It's Thursday once again, we're closing in on the weekend! I've decided I'll be using Thursday's from now on to share Silver Striker tokens because they are a lot of fun, and they are silver! Silver Striker tokens can be obtained by playing the Silver Striker slot machines at most major casinos, however I recommend buying them second hand on eBay. Slot machines are called one armed bandits for a reason, because they take in more than they pay out!
Today's token is a from Treasure Island in Las Vegas, Nevada. I have stayed there a couple of times and it was fun and a little less expensive than the high end casinos. Plus it's more family friendly if you have kids which is much of the reason I stayed there at the time. Most of the time I collect these from casinos no longer in business, but this is just such a cool one I had to buy it. It has the jolly roger on there, and I'm a sucker for pirate coins...
About the token:
I love this token! The center portion is 99.9% pure silver surrounded by a brass ring. They are great as a collector's items or as a silver stacking item since most of them aren't all that expensive and they produce a lot of them. If you are looking to start collecting silver this isn't a bad option .
When Treasure Island opened they had a really cool sign in front of the casino. At some point they swapped in out for the current sign which is kind of boring in my opinion. Then again, I'm pretty sure they don't really care what I think. I included a picture of the original sign and the current sign with the casino itself. It's a nice place!
Original sign for Treasure Island
A nice shot of the Las Vegas strip and Treasure Island with the current sign. Sure gets me in the mood to head to Vegas!
I thought it might be fun to talk about the jolly roger (skull and cross bone pirate flag) since the design is on the token. Pirate flags were not usually the jolly roger we see today. Many were on black backgrounds (or red) with their own designs for each pirate captain. Early on pirates would raise a plain black flag indicating that they were pirates but if you surrender without a fight you wouldn't be harmed. That would be followed by a red flag meaning that if you don't surrender you will be harmed. It wasn't until the early 1700's that the skull and cross bones became somewhat common.
Pirate captain Black Sam Bellamy was know to use the jolly roger flag along with several other pirate captains around 1710. The flag has become synonymous with piracy ever since. Here's a know authentic jolly roger:
One of only two known authentic jolly roger flags, the black background has faded over the centuries.
Piracy was tough work, but very rewarding financially. Crew members could make much more money as pirates, ten to twenty times as much than working regular jobs which were often hard to come by. It's no wonder so many became pirates when your outlook was rather bleak as a commoner.
That will do it for me today, I hope you enjoyed my post, and that you enjoy seeing the Silver Striker tokens as much as I do. If you have any suggestions, questions, or comments please feel free to leave them below. Happy Thursday!
And since I am posting in the #freecompliments community I just wanted to remind everyone to take some time today to be kind. A little kindness can make a huge difference in someone's life. Please check out the community and consider joining us!
And my disclaimer:
Gold and silver collecting and stacking can be a fun hobby but isn't for everyone. You can lose money. I'm not a financial advisor and this isn't financial advice, please always do your own research before spending your hard earned money.
All pictures are mine unless otherwise noted.
References:
https://www.silverstrikers.com/Web/Catalogs/SilverStrikes/Nevada/TreasureIslandLVnv/Treasure-Island-LVnv-Page-01.php/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Island_Hotel_and_Casino
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jolly_Roger
Re-blog lottery
Now for the winner of the re-blog lottery! Today we had 28 people who re-blogged my post, thank you so much! The people who re-blogged were:
Voluntary daily reminder list for those who request to be on it: 
If you want to be added to the list as well just feel free to ask!
Thank you everyone! I have been working to improve my engagement and all of you have really helped out! If you have any recommendations or suggestions please feel free to let me know. I'm always looking to improve my posts.
Good luck to everyone!
And the Wheel of Names results:
Winner #1:
Winner #2:
Congratulations 
Congratulations 
Now for today's re-blog lottery! You just need to re-blog my post you will be placed on the Wheel of Names for a spin to possibly win up to 5 HSBI units! New twist, one winner on the first spin wins 3 HSBI, and a second spin for a chance for 2 HSBI, so two possible winners or one really lucky one could win both spins! An upvote is not required but is always greatly appreciated. Bots aren't allowed to win the prizes. Contest ends at 14:00 (2 PM) California Pacific time tomorrow. If I somehow missed your re-blog please let me know and I'll add you to the next draw.
What are HSBI units? They are units that you can purchase to sponsor someone and you in turn receive a unit as well. This way we both benefit! They give you occasional upvotes on your posts for a lifetime, and the more you accumulate the more often you receive upvotes and the bigger they can be. You can read some more here:
If you have more questions feel free to ask.
If you are interested in precious metals or even want to learn more about them feel free to come join us #silvergoldstackers
This is a new group focusing on on boarding and retaining new Hive members. Feel free to ask how you can help out!
