OK, here we go again.

The NGC got involved mainly due to apparent federal regulation violations reported to them. It is against federal regulations to stamp a metal with designation other than what it is. For example one cannot mark a sterling silver .999 fine silver, nor can a metal be stamped .999 fine silver which is brass as were the $10 silver strikes at that time.

Here's a snipit of the regulations.

Metals Stamping Act

United States Code
Title 15--Commerce and Trade
Chapter 8--Falsely Stamped Gold or Silver or Goods Manufactured

http://www.thecre.com/fedlaw/uscode/15/294.html

294 Importation or transportation of falsely marked gold or silver ware prohibited

It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or association, being a manufacturer of or wholesale or retail dealer in gold or silver jewelry or gold ware, silver goods or silverware, or for any officer, manager, director, or agent of such firm, corporation, or association to import or export or cause to be imported into or exported from the United States for the purpose of selling or disposing of the same, or to deposit or cause to be deposited in the United States mails for transmission thereby, or to deliver or cause to be delivered to any common carrier for transportation from one State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or the District of Columbia, to any other State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or to said District, in interstate commerce, or to transport or cause to be transported from one State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or from the District of Columbia, to any other State, Territory, or possession of the United States, or to said District, in interstate commerce, any article of merchandise manufactured after June 13, 1907, and made in whole or in part of gold or silver, or any alloy of either of said metals, and having stamped, branded, engraved, or printed thereon, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any box, package, cover, or wrapper in which said article is incased or inclosed, any mark or word indicating or designed or intended to indicate that the gold or silver or alloy of either of said metals in such article is of a greater degree of fineness than the actual fineness or quality of such gold, silver, or alloy, according to the standards and subject to the qualifications set forth in sections 295 and 296 of this title.

http://www.thecre.com/fedlaw/uscode/15/295.html

295 Standard of fineness of gold articles; deviation

In the case of articles of merchandise made in whole or in part of gold or of any of its alloys so imported into or exported from the United States, or so deposited in the United States mails for transmission, or so delivered for transportation to any common carrier, or so transported or caused to be transported as specified in section 294 of this title, the actual fineness of such gold or alloy shall not be less by more than three one-thousandth parts than the fineness indicated by the mark stamped, branded, engraved, or printed upon any part of such article, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any box, package, cover, or wrapper in which such article is incased or inclosed: Provided, That in any test for the ascertainment of the fineness of any article mentioned in this section, according to the foregoing standards, the part of the article taken for the test, analysis, or assay shall be such part or portion as does not contain or have attached thereto any solder or alloy of inferior fineness used for brazing or uniting the parts of said article: Provided further, That, in addition to the foregoing tests and standards, the actual fineness of the entire quantity of gold or of its alloys contained in an article mentioned in this section, including all solder and alloy of inferior fineness used for brazing or uniting the parts of such article (all such gold, alloys, and solder being assayed as one piece), shall not be less by more than three one-thousandth parts, in the case of a watchcase or flatware, or than seven one-thousandth parts, in the case of any other such article, than the fineness indicated by the mark stamped, branded, engraved, or imprinted upon such article, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any box, package, cover, or wrapper in which such article is incased or inclosed, it being intended that the standards of fineness and the tests or methods for ascertaining the same provided in this section for articles mentioned therein shall be concurrent and not alternative.

http://www.thecre.com/fedlaw/uscode/15/296.html

296 Standard of fineness of silver articles; deviation

In the case of articles of merchandise made in whole or in part of silver or any of its alloys so imported into or exported from the United States, or so deposited in the United States mails for transmission, or so delivered for transportation to any common carrier, or so transported or caused to be transported as specified in section 294 of this title, the actual fineness of the silver or alloy thereof of which such article is wholly or partly composed shall not be less by more than four one-thousandth parts than the actual fineness indicated by any mark (other than the word "sterling" or the word "coin") stamped, branded, engraved, or printed upon any part of such article, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any box, package, cover, or wrapper in which such article is incased or inclosed; and that no such article or tag, card, or label attached thereto, or box, package, cover, or wrapper in which such article is incased or inclosed shall be marked, stamped, branded, engraved, or printed with the word "sterling" or "sterling silver" or any colorable imitation thereof, unless such article or parts thereof purporting to be silver contains nine hundred and twenty-five one-thousandth parts pure silver; and that no such article, tag, card, label, box, package, cover, or wrapper shall be marked, stamped, branded, engraved, or printed with the words "coin" or "coin silver" or colorable imitation thereof unless such article or parts thereof purporting to be silver contains nine hundred one-thousandth parts pure silver: Provided, That in the case of all such articles whose fineness is indicated by the word "sterling" or the word "coin" there shall be allowed a divergence in the fineness of four one-thousandth parts from the foregoing standards: Provided, That in any test for the ascertainment of the fineness of any such article mentioned in this section according to the foregoing standards the part of the article taken for the test, analysis, or assay shall be such part or portion as does not contain or have attached thereto any solder or alloy of inferior fineness used for brazing or uniting the parts of such article: Provided further, That in the case of any article mentioned in this section, in addition to the foregoing tests and standards, the actual fineness of the entire quantity of silver or of its alloys contained in such article, including all solder and alloy of inferior fineness used for brazing or uniting the parts of such article (all such silver, alloys, and solder being assayed as one piece), shall not be less by more than ten one-thousandth parts than the fineness indicated by the mark stamped, branded, engraved, or imprinted upon such article, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any box, package, cover, or wrapper in which such article is incased or inclosed, it being intended that the standards of fineness and the tests or methods for ascertaining the same provided in this section for articles mentioned therein shall be concurrent and not alternative.

There are more standards/regulations regarding the stamping of the actual metals themselves but am unable to locate them at the moment.

As for the Hard Rock tokens there is NO infringement of the regulations here. As to why the .999 Fine Silver stamping was left off of the silver strike I do not know.

A Hard Rock strike was assayed and the center is FINE silver.

HRLV-1 Center weighed 11.98 DWT and contained 11.83 DWT .999 Silver. Actually the center was .9874 Fine Silver.

HRLV-1- 11.83 DWT =.5915Oz Troy .999 Fine Silver @$5.55=$3.28

Taken from Marvin Weaver's web site... http://home.comcast.net/~sptokens/marv9.htm

Also, even today, there is no regulation requiring that the metal be stamped. Only if it is it must be stamped accurately.

Please re-read the letter sent to Marvin Weaver from the NGC...

http://home.comcast.net/~sptokens/marv5.htm

The letter only states that if, "Silver Strike token artwork and sample tokens submitted to the Board for approval by Anchor Gaming, bearing the inscription ".999 Fine Silver" on a non-silver outer ring, must also include the inscription "Center Insert Only" or other words to that effect."

So Anchor Gaming decided to place the inscription on the silver center to comply. No where in the letter does it state that the token or artwork must be stamped or bear ".999 Fine Silver". Only what is to be stamped if included on the token and artwork. Even today the tokens can have the ".999 Fine Silver" stamping left off.

I just wonder how well the silver strikes would sell if none had a .999 fine silver stamp on them.