Christine, The first silver strike that came out and had to be won from a slot machine was up in Lake Tahoe at Harvey's in 1992. The Train on the Bridge was the first design. These were won on a quarter machine like the quarter machines now for the $10 strikes. However silver was worth less than the seven dollars face value so the casino's expected you to win them and turn them back in for the face value of seven dollars. The casino's did not know that silver was to go up and people would keep these for the silver they were made of. These first ones did not come in plastic cases as collectors were not thought of at that time. You can find the train design out there on peoples trade list or for sale and alot of them are in mint or near mint condition. Some however are pretty beat up and dirty. Hope this helps you out.

Dennis