New coin celebrates 140 years of Sunshine Mine
The special collector's coin commemorating 140 years of the Sunshine Mine.
Courtesy photo
WALLACE — A special edition 1-ounce silver coin commemorating the 140th anniversary of the Sunshine Mine is now available at the Sierra Silver Mine Tour gift shop.
Through various connections and relationships, manager Stacey Strange was introduced to Tom Henderson, the general manager of the Sunshine Mine, and they discussed the possibility of minting a special coin to celebrate the milestone anniversary.
“A couple months ago, I sat down with Tom and his assistant, Sarah Frohlich, to go over all the details of the coin, the selling of the coins and the background of the coins,” Strange said. “From that day, we started pre-selling them until we received the coins in store. Last Wednesday, we received our coins and have been selling them like crazy.”
One side of the coin features an underground miner operating a jackleg drill with the words, "140 Years” etched onto it. The other side features the words, “1884 - 2024, Sunshine Mine, Kellogg, Idaho” displayed over the profile of the mine’s headframe.
Each of the 2,000 coins is one troy ounce of .999 fine silver, mined by local miners at the Sunshine Mine.
“The most amazing thing besides being mined locally, refined, minted and printed locally is the design of the coin,” Strange said. “It honors all past, present and future miners. The fact that we have a special coin honoring all miners is heartwarming and makes us feel very proud to be a part of.”
The Sunshine Mine was opened in 1884 by the Blake brothers and has produced over 390 million ounces of silver in its 140-year history. In 1972, the mine was the site of a tragic fire that claimed the lives of 91 miners and reshaped safety practices in mines across the country.
In anticipation of the coin’s release, both the Sunshine Mine and the Sierra Silver Mine Tour released a statement that read, “This 1-oz coin serves as a tribute to the indomitable spirit of the miners and the enduring legacy of the Sunshine Mine in shaping the heritage of the American West and the State of Idaho.”
Initially, it was planned for the coin to be exclusively sold at the Sierra Silver Mine Tour, however, due to demand, the Idaho Silver Shop in Wallace was also given an allotment of the coins to sell.