The process for strike production is completely controlled by IGT which has a patent on the term "silver strike" as well as the current machine. IGT deals with the mints currently producing silver strikes, Global of Las Vegas and Sunshine of Idaho.
Design comes either from the casino itself (see "Slingo"), from IGT to the casino or a combination of the two.
Artists from the mints produce artwork which is submitted to the casino for approval. Of course, some preliminary artwork is rejected outright and some returned for reworking. In Nevada, when the casino is satisfied and signs off, the artwork is submitted to the Gaming Commission for approval.
After that approval, the die phase begins. Once completed, a sample strike is produced and again submitted to the casino for its approval. After the casino approves, the sample is submitted to Gaming for its approval. After Gaming approves the sample, the strike can go into production.
Some strikes, even after this far into the process, never get made. (see Picasso, Rita Rudner number 3).
IGT commissions the strike production from the mint and IGT sells the finished strikes to the casino.
Cost of a single side of a $10 die is rumored to be $660.