I have a bunch of Silver Strikes that I have picked up over the years. I have just been offered a small collection of them from a friend who wants to get rid of theirs.

Thinking of whether I want to buy the tokens some thoughts came to mind. Along with a few questions.

First some background. Over the years, I have noticed that many of the original capsuls would get chipped or cracked when they would fall out in the tray. I have had a couple break open and had to carefully and delicately remove all the pieces to protect the coins from fingers or scratches etc. That, or the original capsuls would often be badly scratched when they come out of the machines.

The original ones of about 10 or so years ago had a hole in them for prying them open. That hole, I suspect, was the cause of rapid darkening of the tokens as air could easilly get inside to tarnish the golden ring (not really gold)

The newer ones, from about a year or so now, seem to be more air tight but this year as an example, I got 7 of them. I got 2 at The Orleans, 2 at Palms and a 3 at Gold Coast. Each and every one of them were scuffed and scratched on the capsuls. A few quite badly. The coins themselves were perfectly fine though.

So, now the questions as I prepare to buy some off of a friend.

Ever since my original ones from about 12 years ago started to turn really dark around the edges, I have been taking them out of their original capsuls and putting them into new AirTites. I find the AirTites to be better protection for them and do help preserve their gold colors. Am I wrong to replace the original capsuls?

If after going through this collection that I might pick up, If I decide I might want to trade or sell them, would I be better advised to leave them in their original capsuls or would they have better value in AirTites. The AirTites that I use are the ones that have the foam rings in them.

Thanks for all input.