Then again, maybe Wynter’s people had just a few 100s of contracts, because I recall reading that they were funded with tens to hundreds of millions of dollars, but not billions. A thousand contracts would be $175 million, which might be more than their bank was. Actually a little less since they bought below $35 silver.
As these contracts were, I'm sure, purchased on margin. They simply took the cash, having made a tidy sum for a relatively minor outlay. To have taken actual delivery, had that been the case (if they bought in at say $15 an ounce), they would have needed about 330 million dollars and a really BIG safe!