Coins We Love: Last-Minute Cancellations Were Mint To Be

Last Saturday, I was scheduled to fly to San Francisco with Wes to attend the Witter Coin U educational event. I’ve been honored to teach at this event for the past 4 years and it’s even more fun this year as Wes was invited to come back for his second year. Unfortunately, the software glitch that affected the nation’s air travel prevented our departure and nearly canceled our trip. However, my friend, the Southwest Airlines Free Companion Ticket came in handy as Delta simply couldn’t get us to the West Coast. So, after hours of flight research, I was able to find a flight that would get us to Las Vegas around midnight Saturday evening, with the hope of connecting to San Francisco the next day. Unfortunately, the other 49ers returning home also had the same idea of how to get to San Fran, and the Southwest flights were booked solid to all of the area airports. However, a little sleuthing went a long way and I was able to get us to Reno, Nevada, and secure The Biggest Little City's last available rental car. The 5-hour Uber ride would have seemed less than ideal, but having a rental car and being able to make the drive Sunday afternoon made the adventure palatable. So, we survived a short layover of an evening and headed to Reno.

I’ve never been to the Lake Tahoe area, though I’ve heard beautiful things and thought it could be a fun little field trip. And at that point, I looked at the map and exclaimed to Wes, “We’re going to be 30 minutes from Carson City, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” He read my mind and ordered me to take a detour south to find the old mint…and that we did. Having been to the Denver Mint just 2-3 weeks ago, it seems that our family vacations are now revolving around these curious government institutions. And when we pulled up to the Nevada State Museum housed in the old mint, our hearts started pounding. As I (politely) threw the $10 admission fee to the museum docent, we ran up the stairs to see the gold exhibit. Halfway through, after visiting an interesting but well-traveled ghost town within the museum, we found a staircase to the basement. While it was a surprise, there was a literal mine set up in the basement to show how the silver was excavated in nearby Virginia City. It was a fascinating walk through the old technology that brought so much of our coinage to fruition. After the mining area, we found our way through the mint and towards the coinage press that was utilized for so many years. Directly across was a complete collection of Carson City coinage that was placed on loan with the museum many years ago. Having had the privilege to see the finest collection of CC coinage in the Hansen Collection has been a special treat, but to see similar coins housed inside their original home mint was a unique opportunity.

The entire occurrence and being able to find this place unexpectedly ended up being a real numismatic treat. Wes and I enjoyed the exhibits, the historic pieces that are leftover from the history of the mint, and the displays that introduced the many visitors to the coinage from this special place. Overall, we spent an hour or two simply exploring the building and dreaming of the coins that once flowed from the machines there. Unfortunately, the 108° heat precluded us from spending too much time outside selfie-ing in front of the mint, and the Facetime with my wife back home at the mint was a little underwhelming for those not in attendance, but that was ok. The time was simply "mint to be" for Wes and I and we were thrilled for the unexpected detour into a numismatic history hotbed. After the tour, we hightailed it across Lake Tahoe and through the mountains and the gold country of Northern California. Eventually, we crossed into San Francisco to prepare for a week of (hopefully) molding young collectors into sharper hobbyists and dealers. As we’re in the middle of the week working with young people and teaching classes, I’ll end here as there’ll be a longer update with even more pictures next week in our Pre-ANA CWL. As for now, we hope that you enjoy these coins that we love.

Numismatically Yours,

John and Wes Brush and Your Friends at DLRC

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