If you are looking for a wonderful way to spend a day while in Carson City, Nevada, plan to visit the Nevada State Museum. The Museum is housed in what once served as the home to the U.S. Mint.

The museum building was constructed in 1866 and for the next twenty years, it served as home to the U.S. Mint. Today, one of the exhibits in the Nevada State Museum includes the Carson City Mint's Coin Press No. 1. On February 11, 1870, this press struck the first coin bearing the soon-to-be-famous CC mintmark, a Seated Liberty dollar. For the next twenty-five years, the Coin Press No. 1 was used to strike most of the larger denomination pieces produced during the years the mint actually produced coins, from 1870 to 1885 and again from 1889 to 1893.

Currently rated as one of the ten best regional museums in the West, other exhibits within the walls of this interesting museum include displays of Indian basketry, archaeology, natural history, gaming history and an underground silver mine. In addition, you will find inside a life-sized ghost town and be able to walk through the silver mine. While visiting you won't be able to miss the life-size replica of the Imperial Mammoth, sealed 17,000 years ago and excavated from Nevada's Black Rock Desert in 1972.

The Nevada State Museum is a great attraction and fun for every member of the family – young and old alike. The Museum is open daily from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. The majority of the exhibits are wheelchair accessible and docent tours are available by appointment. The museum offers new exhibits on a regular basis. Please call the museum for current information at 775-687-4810.