Maybe my terminology is not right. It's on the exterior of the bottom part of the kettle. I'm calling that the bowl, but I may be using that term incorrectly.
MacEggs--this was a NIB kettle when I bought it last year. I haven't even had it a year yet. I suspect the chip came last week. I took it to a bbq competition (placed third in chicken, btw) and it was in my buddy's trailer. It was tied down, but somewhere in the loading/unloading, the chip could have happened.