I haven't heard of a strike machine that dispensed a $200 coin, but I recently heard that the jackpot used to be $1000, and you could take the $1000 or you could get a $200 strike and $800 cash. But the $200 strike still came from the cage.

I too am curious about the $7's. I can't tell you how many auctions I've seen for $7 strikes that say "this strike is exactly how it was when I won it, I never opened the case..." and I always thought they were either full of BS, or the machines at some point must have dispensed $7s in capsules. You are right though, there are a TON of $7 strikes in pristine condition and it's hard to believe they fell out of a machine and were handled with no cases...think of all the handling, loading in the machines, falling out of the machines into the tray, into the collector's pocket, cup, etc. There would definitely be some scratches/nicks.

For Colorado $7s, they were not in capsules, however, you could take a $7 you won, and turn in the $7 strike plus $3 and get an uncirculated $7 strike in the presentation folder that you see every once in a while on eBay. They are green, red or white with gold trim and say "Collector Series Silver Coins" on the front. I am not aware of any Nevada casinos doing this.

Dave.
SS - 1029