RUSTY GOE SPEAKS ON THE CARSON CITY MINT

Rusty Goe presented a talk on Saturday, April, 5, 2025, to a receptive audience of fifty people at Reno's Sierra View Library as a part of the Nevada Historical Society's Nevada History on the Go! program. After an introduction by the Historical Society's curator of history, Shery Hayes-Zorn, Rusty shared from his heart, using images to supplement his presentation, about events, people, and coins related to the Carson City Mint.

After sharing a story about Abraham Curry's receiving of an inscribed gold pocket watch from Carson City Mint employees, Rusty moved into his events section during which he summarized how the Carson City Mint came into existence. Newspaper articles from the 1860s provided background material for his narrative.

From there, Rusty launched into his accounts of people related to the Carson City Mint. Abraham Curry continued to receive well-deserved credit. Others mentioned included James Crawford (mint superintendent), C. C. Powning (editor of Reno's Nevada State Journal), and T. Robert Hofer (whom Rusty described as a thought-provoking character connected with the Carson City Mint).

Next came Rusty's discussion of coins from the Carson City Mint. Rusty stated that rare coins captivate, and then he provided ample proof to substantiate his assertion. He began this portion of his presentation by illustrating how the Carson City Mint building metamorphosed into the Nevada State Museum in 1941. Nevada's Judge Clark J. Guild spearheaded that remarkable accomplishment.

Rusty clearly demonstrated how rare coins serve the museum's purpose in preserving the Carson City Mint's heritage. Before highlighting the coins' significance, Rusty focused on the original coin press that was on hand at the Carson City Mint's opening in January 1870 and that is now preserved at the museum. Rusty then shared how the world-class collection of CC coins assembled by Nevada power broker Norman H. Biltz became the museum's crowning glory in its connection to its minting legacy. This collection's exponential price appreciation from the time it first went on display at the museum in 1989 to the present left many in the audience gasping. Pictures of the special ceremony in December 1999, when Wells Fargo Bank donated the Biltz collection to the state of Nevada, added color to this segment of Rusty's narrative.

Rusty then displayed four featured coins from the museum's Biltz collection, including what Rusty dubbed as the Duke of Carson City coins, an Uncirculated 1876-CC twenty-cent piece.

After finishing his discussion of the museum's Biltz collection, Rusty shared about an 1870-CC $20 gold piece that sold for $23,100 in a January 1986 auction and returned to the coin market nearly thirty-nine years later (November 2024) and soared to $1,440,000 in another auction. The Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) rated this coin AU-55 prior to the November 2024 event.

The discussion of rare coins would not have been complete if Rusty hadn't given what he calls the King of Carson City coins its due recognition. When he told the crowd that the unique 1873-CC Without Arrows dime is currently worth about $4,000,000 more gasps filled the room.

Rusty then shared an interesting story he discovered while doing research for his latest book, The Confident Carson City Coin Collector. Three very special 1873-CC Liberty Seated silver dollars that entered the coin collecting hobby during the 1970s were recovered during a renovation project at a major Carson City intersection. Rusty said that the finest example of this trio of 1873-CC silver dollars is currently valued at about $750,000. More gasps.

Rusty concluded his discussion of coins by telling the audience that the face value of the 111 date-denominations that comprise a complete set of Carson City coins is $696. This is the amount the original recipients of these coins in the late 19th century could have used them to pay for things. Today, according to Rusty, a complete set of them in the finest conditions could cost $25,000,000 or more. Many more gasps!

During his closing remarks, Rusty mentioned how much the Carson City Mint's legacy meant to the publisher of the 1970 Nevada Bell phone book and the designer of the book's cover image. The passing of fifty-five years has somewhat diminished the Carson City Mint's place in Nevada's history insofar as more recent residents of Nevada are concerned. Rusty said he still believes that the mint should rank near the top of the list of historical triumphs for which Nevadans should be proud.

Near the end Rusty quoted the editor of Carson City's Morning Appeal, Samuel P. Davis, from a September 18, 1899, article in which Davis wistfully reflected about the mint's final transitioning from a coinmaking facility to an assay office.

Rusty said he believes that if someone had told Davis back then that 125 years into the future, not only would that big monument of stone (the mint) grace Carson City, but it would also house a museum filled with incredibly rare coins, the coin press on which Davis himself witnessed the stamping of these rarities, and myriad other treasured artifacts, it would have consoled him.

Lively applause resounded as Rusty's presentation ended. Hands immediately rose as an enthusiastic question-and-answer session ensued.

The consensus from attendees seemed to confirm one of Rusty's opening remarks that Carson City during the mint era is a place around the bend where one can temporarily escape the treadmill. This Saturday afternoon at the library was certainly filled with serenity, much nostalgia, looks back at history, stories about captivating coins, and the stuff of which good times are made.

To read the complete article, see:
Rusty Goe Gives Presentation On Carson City Mint Stories For Nevada Historical Society AT Reno's Sierra View Library On April 5, 2025 (https://www.southgatecoins.com/southgate-rare-coins-culture-buy-sell-coins-gold-silver-at-a-reno-coin-shop-with-history/2025/4/7/rusty-goe-presentation-carson-city-mint-stories-nevada-historical-society-valley-view-library-carson-city-mint-april-5-2025)

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