Larry... I believe there might be some confusion here.

If I'm not mistaken the strike in question here may not really be a "silver strike". Like you, I'm not so sure I'd want to alter a silver strike, thinking the value could change.

It is probably somewhat similar to the 1/4 lb. silver tokens issued by the Gold Coast. They are also very collectible but I'm not sure putting gold plating on them would hurt anything. We all know value depends on supply and demand, so the fact that 39 collectors decided to gold plate theirs, just makes the value "worth it".