Shawn,
That's NOT the ONLY WAY to do something about the high cost of silver as it pertains to silver strike collecting. Doing it your way would price a lot of the collectors out of the new collecting hobby. Especially having to pay $400(10 $40 strikes) for a now $200 one pounder strike. Even I would have trouble keeping up my collecting the new SS releases if your way is used.

MY vote and stand is to go to .999 Heavy Silver Plated(HSP) strikes. Using the same size $10's to solve the silver problem in collecting SS. This way the $10 & $200 silver strikes could stay at the dollar amount they are now. That way the basic cost of collecting SS would stay the same as it is now. Nothing would need to be changed, adjusted, or built to fit another type or size strike.

I know that there are some collectors(maybe a lot) that would cry foul "I'll NEVER" get any of those HSP strikes. Just like the crying that went on when the $200 stickers, baked on paint, or porcelain SS first came out. While pretty much nobody likes them there is always NONE LEFT OVER a LONG time after their release(just a few days at best). Except 1 the "Oscar Goldman" $200 that I believe was due more to strike subject then to just being a sticker strike. Like these sticker, painted, & porcelian $200 strikes in time most all of the collectors will get used to them & start collecting them again if they had quit. I had not stopped collecting $200 SS because of the change in the center of $200's. I look upon this as a different section within the $200 strikes, they are still $200 strikes like the orhers.

I have 43 of the HSP and .999 silver strikes from the cruise ships and the islands. A collector would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the .999 fine silver strikes and the .999 silver HSP strikes. UNFORTUNALLY if the $200 casino cost reaches a point that baked on paint or porcelain does not hold down the price then the $200 might have to go to HSP also.

If the price of silver should ever go back to a reasonable cost --which I doubt. The strikes can always resume being made in a solid .999 silver instead of .999 silver HSP. Some will say that this will never happen even if the price of silver goes back down for enough. I disagree---competition between the casino's (especially in LV)will dictate what goes on with this.

Raising the price of strikes -- therefore the cost of collecting them -- I feel will do a lot more to hurting our fine hobby then going to HSP strikes. HSP will allow new people to collect and help the present collectors to keep collecting Silver Strikes. As well as help at least some casino's to hopefully reinstall the silver strike machines. In the long run only time will tell.
MY silver strike's worth,
Dan