Some very good points. I won 7 Silver Strikes at McCarran once, on less than $4. Looking through them and compairing them to what I had from a previous trip I noticed that some of them were truely awful. I kept what I needed from the best of the bunch and returned the rest on my next trip. Some of them, I am sure would not have even had value to a collector. I hear that with a lot of coins they will take a master and make a bunch of dies from the master based on how many tokens they intend to mint. Then they will use the dies to stamp runs of the tokens. Every time a die is stamped it reduces the quality of the detail in that die. When a die gets worn they replace it and distroy it. I noticed a lot of these SSs lacked detail and the fine engravings were muted and in some cases non existant. One thing I like about some of McCarrans machines is the foam pad in the chute. It helps keep the capsules from cracking. I got a token at DI once that I heard a bang as the edge hit the chute. When I reached in the capsule was cracked open and the token was loose. I had to delecately take all the parts and reassemble them so as not to touch the face of the token. Undoubtable there were smudges or scuffs etc. somewhere on the token. Then there is the inadequacy, I feel, of the holders that Silver Strikes come in. They have a little hole for opening them. Problem is that air and dirt can get in and tarnish and cause premature aging of the token. I find that most of my tokens that were kept for a year or so in their original holders have gold rings that are turning dark and discoloring. They are obviously not GOLD. The silver does still hold up very well. Now, I take all my SSs and put them into AirTites as soon as I get home. I have not noticed any loss in color of the gold rings, on my newer strikes, yet. I am still watching them.

To get back to the original topic now, All the above mentioned conditions will cause a reduction in the grades of your tokens. While giving a lot of amunition to the slabbers, as you mention, it is going to diminish the value to all other tokens that are not graded. That is if slabbers have their way. Unlike with chips, a slabber can point to a Silver Strike and point out all the variations that, he will say, warrants having tokens graded like coins. What that means to the collector is that your token may not actually be valuable unless you spend 10 or 15 bucks to some guy who will tell you what your token is worth. I am sure that COIN DEALERS will be attracted to these slabbed strikes because, as you mentioned, they will fit right into his inventory of slabbed coins. Add to that the fact that a good quality Silver Strike has an almost HYPNOTIC appearance and I fear in a slab will even more mesmorize a potential buyer. While talking to a man once that refines precious metals we started talking about coins. He is familiar with coins as he often pays for scrap with Gold Coins like Eagles, Maple Leafs etc. I pulled out a box of Silver Strikes and showed him the 2000 Bellagio token with the fountains. He was stunned with the fine frosted detail of the fountains and the mirrored background. He had never seen these tokens before and was very impressed with their appearance. We can't let them rationalize a similarity of SSs and coins as an excuse for slabbing tokens. Of all the above mentioned defects, There is nothing there that is not readilly noticable to even the most inexperienced collectors. The mirror finish often will show the smudges, scratches and finger prints. The discoloration, trust me, is obvious. And, as for the detail from poor strikes. All the problems I have noticed were obvious as well. Why we may need to spend hard earned money to tell us the quality of the tokens, or chips, that we own or want to buy is beyond me. I would rather take that extra money and spend it on more chips. After all, what is it about a coin, token or chip that pleases me. Is it the colors and designs detail and variation of texture etc.? Or is it the plastic capsule, grading label and hologram? When you are looking at a slabbed token, you will have to add the cost of the token + the cost of grading, in most cases more than the cost of the token, + mark up just because it was graded and you are starting to talk about some serious money that could have bought more tokens.

Lets say $10 ss (probably cost more since it had to be won in a machine) + 10 (or 15) dollars for grading. and add maybe another 5 or 10 dollars in added value (Because of a slab?) You will find yourself paying as much as $30+ for a $10 token. Is it worth it? I say NO!. Collectors do not need slabs. They add NOTHING to the physical enjoyment of the collectable. In fact, they may detract from the enjoyment in that you can not open them and hold the chip or token. (YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO THIS WITH A SILVER STRIKE) Also why would you spend $30 for a silver strike when you might be able to buy 3 on eBay for that much, I see a lot of them listed at face that never sell. I know I would get more enjoyment from more chips or tokens than from fewer. If you are an Investor, I would think there are much better investments, than Casino Chips and Silver Strikes, to "Invest" in. I would rather have 10 shares of stock in a good company than a fist full of tokens and chips. When it comes time to retire or need money, Your stock will still have value in the profits and value of the corporation. You can always sell that. However if you are pressed for a mortgage payment and you need to sell some casino chips or tokens, There is no guarantee that there will be a buyer when you need to sell. Look at eBay sometime and see how may chips and tokens go unsold at any given time. While we all hope our collections will appreciate in value, Chips and Tokens are a COLLECTABLE NOT AN INVESTMENT.