Our new Reno Coin Club medal celebrates the 50th anniversary of Eva Adams Director of the US Mint 1961-1969 and the moon landing July 16-24,1969 that relied on a rocket enginedeveloped and tested in Palomino Valley, NV.

Eva Adams was a member of the Reno Coin Club until her death in 1991. Every year she gave autographed dollars bills to the young members of the club. Eva Adams was bornin Wonder, Nevada on September 10, 1908. Her father worked for mining magnate George Wingfield, setting up hotels, bars, and commissaries, which caused the family to move fromcamp to camp for years before Adams' mother insisted the family settle down in Reno. Eva Adams graduated from Reno High School at age 14 and attended the University of Nevada,Reno. After college, Adams moved to Las Vegas to become a teacher at Las Vegas High School. Shortly thereafter, Senator Pat McCarran invited her to move to Washington to becomehis administrative assistant. She worked for Senator McCarran until his death in 1954, Senator Ernest S. Brown, and then Senator Alan Bible.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy named Adams Director of the US Mint, and Adams subsequently held that office from October 1961 until August 1969. The end of silver coinagecaused a coin shortage when people hoarded silver coins. She requested the coin press at the Nevada State Museum be sent to Denver to help make coins. The coin press then had ahistory of minting coins for Carson City, San Francisco, and Denver. We are proud to have her on our new medal. The Reno arch is to the right.

We are also celebrating the landing on the moon in 1969 and Nevada*s involvement. From 1962 to 1970, Rocketdyne operated a vast facility on nearly 200 square miles byPyramid Lake. Hidden from public view and under tight security, engineers erected massive apparatus to test engines and thrusters that would be used on Gemini and Apollospacecraft, the lunar module and the space shuttle. The rocket that lifted Buzz Aldrin from the moon came from the testing facility at Palomino Valley. The reverse is based on the"Eagle has Landed" design found on the Susan B. Anthony and Eisenhower dollars with the dates of the moon landing above.

Dollar size medals sell for $65 for .999 1 ounce silver, $15 for antiqued brass and copper. Orders may be made at datbbelliotts@prodigy.net, David Elliott, 2845 Edgewood Drive,Reno, NV 89503. $5 shipping. Buy all three medals for $90 and free shipping. Call for info: 775 815-8625, but not orders. I am growing deaf and cannot hear names and numbersanymore. Order by e-mail or mail. We are very pleased with the quality, price, and turnaround time and help with design from Medalcraft in Wisconsin. They inherited many of thedies from the Northwest Territorial Mint that went bankrupt in Dayton, NV.

For more information on the Reno Coin Club, see:
http://www.renocoinclub.org/