I had a conversation a few years back with Bill Cohenour
about strikes that were showing up that were lacquered.
The 9 piece Christmas set was minted by Sunshine, and Bill
said he was told that Sunshine does not lacquer strikes in
case they have to melt them back down - mistakes returned
etc. A source he had at the Palms knew nothing about any of
the strikes the Palms ever ordered and shown for approval,
such as a prototype, was ever lacquered

He went on to say that over a period of about 1 1/2 years,
strikes lacquered from other casinos were showing up on on
Ebay as being 1 or 2 of a kind prototypes, being posted by 2
individuals from California, and when pressed where they got
them, the postings ceased, and they were never seen on Ebay
again selling anything.

There were lacquered strikes from the Palms, Riviera, Flamingo,
Harrah's, Caesar's and some from outside Las Vegas that were
being posted claiming to be prototypes. The individual screwed
up becase some were from different minters.

Someone showed Bill one, and he said it looked like a toned type
of lacquer someone coated strikes with. I looked on the on-line
catalog and noticed these lacquered pieces are relatively new in
the catalog?

If I remember right, the minters denied lacquering strikes, that
the proofs or prototypes were presented to the casino in the
state the final product would be delivered.

According to Bill, mints that said they did not lacquer any were:
Continental Coin / Green Duck Corp. / Letcher Mint / Casino Tokens
Sunshine and some of the others - just cannot remember

Bottom line - Someone took that Christmas set and lacquered it
trying to make a quick buck, just like a counterfeiter of strikes.
As fast as they started to appear, they disappeared and I think
people who bought them, are going to try and re-sell them to
get their money back.

It says only 2 known? - Who can verify that there is another set
available out there, or who has it, or could it be the buyer was told
that by the seller?

Common sense would tell you that no mint would show a client a
prototype of something the client will be ordering in a toned down
lacquered state - I sure would not be happy with it as a buyer.
The Palms ones look like crap. Supposed to be nice shiny silver &
I doubt very seriously they were presented that way .....