While politicians are pressing the flesh and crowds are pressing Carson Street for a look at the parade, Nevadans will have an opportunity to press their own silver coins.
In addition to the Nevada Day Parade and all the festivities surrounding it, Don Schmitz will fire up the historic Carson City Mint coin press today to run off commemorative coins.
The parade begins at 10 a.m.
The Nevada Judicial Historical Society's first of a series of four coins commemorating the historic sites of the Nevada Supreme Court started Friday. The Nevada 2000 Millennium Project coin will be Saturday and Sunday.
The mint, now the Nevada State Museum, is in the Nevada State Museum, 600 N. Carson St. The coins bear artist Ray Freeman's renditions of the various buildings which have housed the court, with the Nevada state seal on the reverse side.
Those wishing to stamp their own coins will be able to purchase silver blanks for $25 and then use the coin press to stamp them.
The first design represents the current Nevada Supreme Court building, where the court has been housed since 1992. Subsequent coins will represent the State Capitol, the old Supreme Court and Library Building, which now houses the Attorney General, and the Great Basin Hotel, which stood on the corner of Musser and Carson streets.
For information, call Susan Southwick at 684-1670.
The Millennium silver coin, designed by Carol Foldvary-Anderson of Carson City and featuring the Nevada Capitol, will be pressed beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The Saturday pressing commemorates the final Nevada Day before the year 2000 and will run until about 4:30 p.m., while the Sunday pressing will run until around noon.
Collectors also will be able to purchase silver blanks for $25 and press their own Millennium coins with Schmitz' assistance. The silver coins will be sold at the press only Saturday and Sunday, then bronze and silver versions are expected to be available at the museum.
The bronze coin was designed by Kaleb Temple, also of Carson City. Both obverse designs were chosen through a contest conducted by Nevada 2000. The reverse of the silver will feature the seal of the Carson City Mint, while the reverse of the bronze will be the Nevada state seal.
Proceeds from the sale of the Millennium coins will help fund the 15-month-long observance of the end of the millennium.
The Millennium coins will pressed until Jan 18, 2001, the official end of the state's Nevada 2000 observation.