Coin show draws numismatists and just plain curious to old mint

The Nevada State Museum and old Carson City United States Mint attracted crowds for a coin show Friday and Saturday as 23 coin dealers joined in the fun.

Holding court in the old mint at Press No. 1 were Ken Hopple, chief coiner, and Bob Nylen, the museum's curator of history.

They told those curious about the press and mint that the last coin was done there in 1893.

Just around the corner from the press in a nearby hallway, Linda Noble of Lebanon, Ore., looked over a bullion scale, circa 1870, which a plaque said was a 10,000-ounce beam scale.

She said she was curious about the mint.

In all likelihood, she wasn't the only curious visitor over the weekend, what with the Carson City Mint getting a bit of publicity just days earlier when an 1873 Carson City dime sold in Pennsylvania at auction for $1.6 million.

An anonymous bidder got the pristine coin, according to Chris Napolitano, president of Stack's Bowers Galleries in Philadelphia, where the coin was auctioned during an American Numismatic Association convention.

In Carson City, coin dealers were arrayed throughout part of the structure near the old Coin Press No. 1, allowing visitors to buy or learn about rare coins. Outside in the museum courtyard, there was an opportunity for young and old alike to pan for gold.

Friends of the museum helped folks who wanted to pan and also provided refreshments at the Carson City Mint Coin Show, which is the museum's primary fund-raising event each year.