Carson City museum to re-open Wednesday with pine tree presentation

CARSON CITY, Nevada — The Nevada State Museum, Carson City, will reopen Wednesday; visitors will be able to learn about pine trees during the Curator’s Corner presentations from 1 to 3 p.m. Additionally, the museum this Saturday will resume its weekly demonstrations of historic Coin Press No. 1, minting a special medallion honoring Nevada’s health care heroes.

Pine trees differ from firs and spruces: Mina Stafford, the museum’s curator of education, will explain the variation in short, repeating presentations from 1 to 3 p.m. Wednesday for visitors passing through the museum’s demonstration gallery. The Curator’s Corner, a biweekly program on the first and third Wednesdays of the month, features a museum curator displaying artifacts and objects.

On Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., museum staff will operate Coin Press No. 1, minting a special medallion honoring Nevada’s health care heroes. Coin Press No. 1 was the first coin press to operate at the Carson City Mint. A former U.S. Branch Mint, the Carson City Mint was in operation from 1870 to 1893, and today is incorporated into museum facility. Interested people can purchase .999 fine silver planchets and watch as they are minted on the press. Cost for a planchet is $100; a portion of the proceeds will go to the COVID-19 Relief Fund, administered by the Community Foundation of Western Nevada.

The museum will be open at 25% percent capacity in an effort to control the spread of COVID-19. Visitors must wear a face covering while in the museum and maintain a distance of 6 feet from those outside their households. Acrylic barriers are in place at the admissions desk, in the store and in the demonstration gallery to protect visitors. Details: CarsonNVMuseum.org.

Editors: For an image of a single-leaf pinon pine, the Health Care Heroes medallion, and Coin Press No. 1, click here.

The Nevada State Museum, Carson City engages diverse audiences in understanding and celebrating Nevada’s natural and cultural heritage. The museum is one of seven state museums that make up the Nevada Division of Museums and History.