Silver Strikers Club Number (SSC#) Composition
Introduction
Silver Strikers Club Number (SSC#) was created to identify each image, the web site needs a unique id for each strike (image) and in the future a database will also require a unique id, thus was born a strike numbering system. Hopefully it will also be useful to other strikers.
SSC# Composition
The Silver Strikers Club Number (SSC#) composition is as follows;
Each casino has been given a unique 2 or 3 letter abbreviation. Each city has been given a unique 2-letter abbreviation (may need to utilize 3 letters in the future). Each state & foreign country has a unique 2-letter abbreviation.
Each original strike is given a unique number per casino starting at 001, and is given a variation suffix as required.
A variation is denoted with a dash the capital letter v and a number depending upon the number of variations of a particular strike as shown below:
In the example below, XX or XXX is the casino abbreviation in all capitals; cc is the city in lower case and ss is the state or foreign country in lower case, and -V1 for the variation.
XXccss-001 or XXXccss-001 XXccss-001-V1 or XXXccss-V2
As is the case with Sams Town its abbreviation will always be ST no matter where in the world it exists, the city & state abbreviation will differentiate the different casinos. (ex. Sams's Town Las Vegas, NV (STlvnv), Sam's Town Robinsonville, MS (STrvms), Sam's Town Tunica, MS (STtums).
Discussion
Silver Strikes are minted with a pair of die (logo side and design side). Each different type of metal used requires a different set of die because the pressure required is different for each type of metal. Bimetal ($10 strikes), are one-piece die for each side.
Frosted strikes (one or both sides) normally occur during the beginning of production, after which cleaning/polishing of the die results in shiny strikes.
Reeding or smooth edges occur due to the collar that holds the planchet while striking and is not considered part of the die. Full reeded $7 strikes were the first ones made but due to the confusion caused with dollar coins at the casino cage they were changed to part reeded.
Silver Strikes are classified as an Original or Variation. If either design or logo die is changed it creates a new Original strike.
If a full reeded $7 strike exists then the part reeded is considered a variation. If a reeded and smooth edge exists then the reeded is the Original and the smooth edge is the Variation.
If you have a numbered edge and a non-numbered edge the numbered edge is considered the Original and the non-numbered edge a Variation. Other edge stamping changes is done on a case-by-case basis.
Gold Plating is applied after the striking and is not considered a die change. If you have a plated and non-plated strike either one can be the Original or Variation depending upon the specific strike.
A strike can be minted in both medallion and coin aligned. Most strikes are medallion aligned. For medallion aligned strikes the coin aligned strike is the variation. For coin aligned strikes the medallion aligned is the variation. Coin aligned or medallion aligned strike variations normally occur at the beginning of a run but may occur at any time.
Specific Strike Determinations
This section will be added at a later date.