Silver Casino Strikes Are Collectible by Coin Collectors and Others

In the early 1990s casino strikes began to appear.A similar token, the bingo token, exists in a
These are coins, or more properly, tokens, thattwenty-five dollar denomination for several
were intended to be collected. However, theycasinos. These have no rim.
were redeemable for their face value. Currently,Larger casino strikes, when redeemed, were
there are no longer available at most, if not all,sometimes cancelled. Some had a hole punched
casinos, due to the increase in the price of silver.through them, others had small indentations
The most common denomination, the ten dollarwhere the metal was gouged out by the casino.
strike, frequently contained about six-tenths of aCancelled casino strikes are less attractive to
Troy ounce of fine silver.collectors.
These were usually limited edition strikes that hadSeveral of the Grand Casinos issued brass plated
silver as the primary metal. Indeed, many alsowith gold casino strike sets of four themed casino
carry a mint mark, and have the casino's namestrikes, usually as gifts to better customers.
and an associated image on the obverse, and anThese were often five dollar strikes, but are not
artistic image on the reverse.considered very desirable, even when still in the
The usual denominations include the seven dollar,original attractive display case. However, they are
the ten dollar, the twenty dollar, the twenty-eightgenerally quite attractive pieces.
dollar, the forty dollar, the one hundred dollar, andSome mints used the same image on the reverse
the two hundred dollar face values.of casino strikes for multiple casinos.
The ten dollar casino strikes normally have a largeDuring the height of casino strike collecting, cruise
brass rim. The twenty dollar denominationlines, the airport in Las Vegas, and many small
normally has no brass rim, and contains additionalcasinos offered strikes. They would be visible, at
fine silver. In fact, the greater the denomination,least the smaller ones, in transparent attachments
the more fine silver the casino strike contains.to slot machines, and drop down as winnings.
The twenty-eight dollar denomination generallyLarger ones were too heavy to drop out of a
begins the sizes that contained a heavy gaugemachine.
electroplating of twenty-four karat gold used toWhile casinos cannot offer these today, they are
emphasize the image. Beginning with the fortystill highly collected. In fact, those from casinos
dollar issues, the rim was also heavy gaugethat have ceased operations seem to go at a
electroplated gold. For completeness it should behigh price compared to others.
noted that a few twenty-five dollar casino strikesSome people collect by casino, but others collect
were issued.by theme. The themes vary greatly. Trains,
Occasionally, some large casinos would addautomobiles, celebrities, and old west are but a
colorization to the forty dollar strikes. These arefew examples of themes frequently used.
especially collectible.