This particular silver strike hasn't received a lot of attention, but it is the most difficult to win of all current Las Vegas silver strikes. No, I'm not referencing O'Sheas double-sided "Indecision 2000" chase token. I'm talking about the recent California Hotel's "Year Of The Snake". Unlike O'Sheas, you are not guaranteed to have at least one "Year Of The Snake" per rack of 50.

For several years now the California Hotel has been a NO TRADING casino when it comes to silver strikes. What makes it even worst is they continue to place all 12 Chinese Zodiac styles into a machine hopper. Since many people simply redeem in their extras and/or older zodiac mintings at the cashier's cage, these older releases are put back into the mix. I personally saw in entire rack put into play without any new "Year of the Snake" designs.

Note that the new design not only features a different snake (the original style looked more like a cobra), but the years are now based on future dates. Ideally the best time to chase this silver strike might be after a year or two when you'll have the chance to win newer releases like "Year of the Horse" and "Year of the Sheep" at the same time.

The back still features the line "Celebrating The New Millennium". It's possible, but seems unlikely that they'll continue with that sentence on the logo side for the next 12 years (California Hotel releases an updated silver strike each year in the Chinese Zodiac series). It's up to each individual collector to decide if they want to chase this elusive silver strike now or wait until the minting amount increases as time goes by.

As always, you should collect what you like and not what you think others will like. The only person you need to please is yourself.

KINGDINOSAUR