Nevada quarter won’t include symbol of gaming

Monday, Oct. 4, 2004 | 9:24 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A view of the Strip won't appear on the Nevada quarter. Neither will a mushroom cloud.

The five finalists for the design of the coin commemorating Nevada include symbols of mining, vistas and nature. The coin is scheduled to be released in 2006.

The five finalists selected by an advisory committee to be sent to the U.S. Mint include:

Nevada Treasurer Brian Krolicki said 500 suggested themes were submitted to appear on the coin. The public was asked for ideas.

The federal government told state officials early on that it would be inappropriate to have a symbol of gambling on a Nevada quarter.

Kathy Besser, assistant to Krolicki, said the legal counsel for the mint informed her that a theme of gambling on the quarter would not be approved, even though the casino industry is the major business in the state.

The quarter could not depict a view of the big casinos along the Las Vegas Strip because commercial themes are not permitted, she said.

An advisory committee narrowed the list to five and returned them Thursday to the Mint, which will produce a rendering with the samples to be returned to Nevada next year. The treasurer said he plans to have Nevadans vote via telephone or computer on their favorites.

The winning theme will then be sent to Washington, D.C.

There were a few suggestions for a mushroom cloud to symbolize the atomic testing at the Nevada Test Site. And there were suggestions that Lake Tahoe or Lake Mead or the Great Basin be on the coin. Besser said Friday there were only a handful of suggestions that recommended a gambling symbol on the Nevada quarter.

Krolicki said Nevada was rebuffed by the Mint with its suggestion that silver mined in Nevada be part of the coined quarter. He said the federal agency has a rule that the coins cannot be more valuable than the other states. At present there is no silver in the 25-cent piece.

The government also rejected a suggestion that part of the new quarters be coined at the old U.S. Mint in Carson City. The rule, said Krolicki is that the coins can only be made in Washington, D.C.

But he said there would probably be some medallions struck in Carson City.

Nevada, which was the 36th state to enter the union, will be the 36th state to have its coin minted.