Kevin Clifford/Nevada Appeal Peter Cimarelli of San Rafael, Calif., looks at the mint mark of a 1934 penny during the 14th annual Carson City Mint Coin Show at the Nevada State Museum on Saturday. Cimarelli started collecting coins 43 years ago when he was a child.
The luck went to the dogs Sunday afternoon, with a tea cup Yorkshire Terrier taking home the grand prize at the Carson City Mint Coin Show.
Enza - named after Enzo Ferrari - won the $1,200 prize for owner Doug Daniels a coin dealer with Marathon, Ltd. of Oakdale, Calif. The dog's name was on the winning raffle ticket.
Daniels said he puts his dog's name on every ticket he buys and it hasn't failed him yet.
"This is the fourth time my dog has won in three years," Daniels said, "three grand prizes and one first prize. I keep them in my store and I don't think I will ever sell them."
The grand prize was 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 grand prize with framing was more than $1,200 and was donated by Rusty and Marie Goe of Southgate Coins in Reno. More than $4,000 in prizes was given away over the two-day show.
Those who didn't win continued to searching through cases and scouring dates and marks in hopes of spotting a hidden gem.
More than 5,000 coins were on display at the museum during the 14th annual Carson City Mint Coin Show, with 40 dealers peddling their wares and searching for rare finds of their own.
The guys from Northern Nevada Coin, of Carson City, had already found two keepers by Sunday morning, shelling out $27,500 for two rare $1 coins minted before 1900.
"We get a lot of people who have collections or their families had collections and they want to know what it's worth," said Allen Rowe. "We do get a lot of people asking for Carson City coins when we do this show."
Rowe said it was his own interest in coins and his growing collection that got him started as a dealer.
"I couldn't support just buying them anymore, I had to sell some of them to be able to afford to keep buying," Rowe said.
The coin dealer has come to the show the last five years, but said he personally attended the show for more than a decade.
"This is a great historic location that has the mystique of the Carson City coins surrounding it. It's just a really good show," Rowe said.
The Nevada State Museum is housed in the building that used to serve as the Carson City Mint.
Donald Guidici has made it a point to make the journey from Vinton, Calif., to the Carson City show for the last six years and usually brings his daughter, Donna, with him.
"He's been collecting for more than 30 years. He started after his grandfather gave him a trade dollar and told him to keep it," Donna said. "Now I've been watching him for a while and started buying some of the cheaper coins."
Deborah Stevenson, museum curator of education, said the show's new elements have been well received. This year the museum included gold panning and a foreign coin treasure hunt for younger collectors.
"It is largely an adult event, but it has the potential to become a family show," Stevenson said. "What we want is to continue to have a quality show. We aren't the biggest but all our dealers are high quality."
More than 1,000 people took in the show during the weekend.
• Contact reporter Jarid Shipley at jshipley@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.