I think that what Walt and I, and perhaps Connie had in mind ... with so many strikes no longer being redeemable for face value by the casinos that issued them, the only way to recoup our cost may be to melt them for their silver value ... no matter what the price of silver may be... up or down.
Should that process happen over a long period of time, the number of strikes that will be available to future generations of silver strikers will be significantly less. Of course if the number of silver strike collectors diminishes significantly as well .... all things may even out.
