Employees of the Nevada State Museum spent the week preparing for the weekend's Carson City Mint Coin Show by setting up tables, hanging banners and filling 150 bags of sand.
"We did half-pound bags of sand with three to five grains of gold in each of them for the gold panning. So if the kids do it right, they are guaranteed to find some gold," said Deborah Stevenson, museum curator of education.
The 14th annual event is the only known coin show held inside a former U.S. Mint and features more than 40 coin dealers offering information, appraisals and merchandise for numismatists.
"We do the show because it is so fitting with our mission. We are all about the old mint that has become the museum," Stevenson said.
Several new events have been added to the schedule in hopes of attracting more families to the two-day event, including gold panning and a treasure chest of foreign coins.
Children pick a coin and then with the help of a docent, try to identify its country of origin. Get it right and they get to keep it.
"The children like to do some detective work and it's fun for them," Stevenson said.
The Reno Coin Club will also be handing out information from the U.S. Mint about getting started in coin collecting and other useful information for young collectors.
The event also features a raffle of prizes donated by the dealers. The grand prize is a historic framed photograph of the Carson City Mint building from 1875, paired with an 1878 "CC" uncirculated Morgan Silver Dollar in a custom Nevada-shaped holder and an 1882 "CC" choice uncirculated Morgan Silver Dollar and holder.
The "CC" mark denotes the mint where the coin was pressed, in this case Carson City.
The total value of the prize with framing is more than $1,200 and was donated by Rusty and Marie Goe of Southgate Coins. More than $2,000 in prizes are being raffled.
Mint tidbits and chronicles video:
https://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/20060825/VIDEO/60825001
"Rusty is a big supporter of the show," Stevenson said. "He loves this hobby and he wants others to grow to love it."
Goe will also be signing copies of his book "The Mint on Carson Street," describing the significance of the Carson City Mint and the 111 coins minted there between 1870 and 1893. Goe will also release information about his upcoming book, "James Crawford: Master of the Mint at Carson City; a Short Full Life," due out at the end of the year.
The historic Coin Press No. 1 will be minting a special .999 fine silver "Spirit of the West" Medallion, designed by Margery Hall-Marshall, that was packaged with the Nevada quarter, released earlier this year. Commemorative medallions and state quarter sets will be available for purchase during the event.
• Contact reporter Jarid Shipley at jshipley@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.
If you go
What: Carson City Mint Coin Show
When: 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday
Where: Nevada State Museum, 600 N. Carson St.
Cost: $5 for adults, $3 for seniors, and free for persons under 18. Museum admission is included in the cost
Call: 687-4810 or go online to www.nevadaculture.org for information
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