I found this article in an old newsletter and thought some may enjoy it.

Silver Strikers Club Newsletter Issue 52
Meet Gary Heinz: Silver Strike Pioneer by Bill Metten

Gary Heinz and his wife, Carol, often stayed at the Stardust in the 1990’s. In 1998 Gary retired after 30 years’ service with Shell Oil Company.
“While walking through the Stardust, I spotted four $7.00 silver strike machines. I played and won 14 strikes. I was so happy I went home with some wonderful tokens. On a return trip, the machines were gone,” Gary says. Those machines paid no credits, just free spins or a silver strike on the right combinations – 111, 222, 555, etc.
“At the time I had no idea that other casinos also had strike machines. On a return trip, I discovered my first $10.00 strike at McCarran Airport,” he recalls.
Gary also played for the $2.00 and $3.00 brass tokens at the Aladdin. “It was a blast!” he says.
After Gary won the tens at the airport, “I knew there must be others. I dragged Carol from casino to casino in search of strikes. At that time, there was no list of casinos with strike machines,” he added.
Gary was one of the approximately 50 founding members of our club. “We were at The Casino Chip and Gaming Token Collectors Club (CC>CC) in 1999 at the Orleans. The club gave us a room to discuss forming a Silver Strikers Club and we signed our names on a piece of paper as we left, becoming charter club members. I wish we had that list,” says Gary.
Clad Center with Brass Ring
As the saying goes, the rest is history. Gary started collecting all denominations of strikes in earnest. He started trading his many extras, and then began selling them to friends and other collectors. “We also had great trade sessions in our own area, El Cajon, California.”
When casinos began numbering strikes, Gary’s favorite numbers were 3, 7 and 57, as in “Heinz 57.”
Gary participated in the “World’s First Silver Strike Tournament” at O’Shea’s in December 2001. He saw the need to continue silver strike tournaments and, as a result of his leadership and support from the slot managements at the Las Vegas Club and Four Queens, today the club has more members, more friendships have been formed, more trades have been made and more new strikes have gone into play. The success of the tournaments has exceeded Gary’s expectations. The next silver strike tournament will be held at the Four Queens on January 23-25, 2009. “See you there,” says Gary.
Recent Developments
When asked what he likes most about strike collecting, Gary replied, “Meeting friends in Las Vegas and playing strike machines.”
It has been confirmed by several casino slot managers that sometime in October 2008 the .999 center $10 Silver Strikes will be replaced with a $10 clad center Silver Strike with a brass ring. This will include red caps for the present time. The $200 Silver Strike will STILL BE ,999 solid silver. A $10 clad Silver Strike can be identified by having NO .999 anywhere on the Silver Strike. Checked and confirmed by Dan Hanagriff.
“I think collecting silver strikes will be around for a long time. I Hope the club will be also,” says Gary.
P. S. If you’re looking for Carol at the next tournament, Gary says you can probably find her at the Las Vegas Club playing her favorite Deuces Wild nickel machine.