In retrospect, I think what the casinos have come up with is a great compromise.

Going with HSP lets them keep the strike machines at twenty-five cents. As stated here by others, the tourists are necessary to keep the machines profitable. Tourists can take home relatively cheap souvenirs. Most of them don’t really care about the content. They just want to do something fun. A quarter machine can accomplish that better than a dollar machine. The strike collectors can collect the HSP or not depending upon their own preferences. So what if they have no intrinsic value.

Retaining the .999 silver in the red caps and the $200’s keeps them collectible for the strike collectors who want to collect something with intrinsic value.

Under the circumstances, I think they’ve come up with a pretty good plan.