I'm mot sure if there was a contract between igt and the mint before igt bailed out..or if the mint is in it from the goodness of their heart.at one time it was we order from igt and igt places the order at whatever cost was agreed on. Igt is no longer in the picture so we deal with the mint directly.as for who owns the program, I don't think anyone really owns the program at this point. We have the machines .....they have the coins.....if they say jump we say how high.....until another player comes and steps up.not all of the mints out there can deal with NGCBn there are only a select few. Some may be able to strike coins and get them approved through NGCB but might not want to becase of the amount they will be making on the silver strike program.unless something changes. as for the cost of a strike, it doesn't make sense to operate in the negative.....and that's what the mint is doing at this point uless they bought silver when prices were low and therefore can afford to do it.as for an outside company getting a piece of the action.....I believe that would be called skimming which is a no no.IGT still has machines...the mint still has the coins.....the casinos (ie. Directors and slot managers) need to have an open mind and learn on how to make the program work for their casino.now 9k for a used machine is a bit steep, but remember what I said in a earlier post pertaining to the mindset of managment and owners. If you want more silverstrike machines in more casinos you'll have to retrain-convice-prove-teach these casino guys that it is a good program when working with the correct stucture. Now if someone wants to get a license for selling used games (80k+background check)buy the games from igt and sell the program to the casinos. Heck you could even charge them an 80/20 or 90/10 split on win and you would be the owner of the games with reoccuring revinue coming in monthly.ill consult if asked too:) lol.