In A/C at the Trump Taj Mahal, anything lower than 50 credits is paid out in coins.
Anything above that prints a ticket on cashout.

I'm not quite sure how it works in LV but in A/C if you have a handful of tickets to redeem, you can opt to insert them into a machine and then print out a single ticket for the combined total.

As far as tickets fading, from what I understand there are several printing methods, there are some that do not fade.

If I understand correctly, Any printed ticket can be inserted and used in a machine for up to 180 days.
After that period, it has to be redeemed at the cage.
Cash out tickets in A/C have NO expiration.

As far as colorful stories, I heard this one but can not attest that it is true.
An older gentleman hit a progressive nickel machine for 1,000,000 nickels.
When they came to pay him in cash, he insisted on having the 1,000,000 nickles.
From what I understand, there was a law suit that was settled out of court when the casino could not furnish the million nickels. Truth or fiction, still a good story