Sorry Skip,

I would have to disagree.

When the program first started the maximum prize was 240 $7 silver strikes. That doesn't sound much like a novelty item. However, as it progressed it may seemed that way. Yet, most people who have kept them as novelties still have the intrensic silver value if not the face value. If silver ever gets back to approximately $16.64 per ounce then the $10 silver strike intrenic value will be near face value.

Most of those who do not collect and took some of the $10 silver strikes home as a novelty/souvenier are those who claim on e-bay that they are 1.6 oz pure silver and do understand their silver content and silver value but not the strike's true composition. Yet they hope to be rewarded on the silver value of the strike.

Over my time (and even recently) many of the silver strike machines were difficult to locate in the casino's and I've even had to inquire as to where they were located so I don't think that they truly thought of as novelty by the casino, but more of a burden to many because of refills, machine breakdown and increasing silver prices.