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CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — The fourth and final medallion commemorating Nevada's 150th birthday will feature Lake Tahoe, Great Basin National Park, the Hoover Dam or a combination tribute to cattle drives and casinos.
Nevadans started casting votes online Wednesday for the last of the coin designs celebrating the 150th anniversary of Nevada's statehood.
One entitled "Discover Both Sides of Nevada" features a cowboy on horseback with a lasso and the turned-up corner of an ace of hearts with dice and a poker chip.
"Hoover Dam — Then and Now" depicts a worker hanging from the dam during its construction in the 1930s against the backdrop of the new bridge built in 2010 across the Colorado River about 35 miles south of Las Vegas.
A bighorn sheep adorns "Great Basin National Park," Nevada's only national park outside Ely near the Utah line, while "Lake Tahoe" shows the SS Tahoe, which delivered mail and shuttled tourists across the azure waters before the lakeshore highway was completed in 1935.
The Nevada 150 logo will be on the reverse side of whichever coin is selected.
"This will truly be the people's choice," said Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, chairman of Nevada 150 organizing the yearlong celebration of the Sesquicentennial that culminates on Nevada Day, Oct. 31.
"One of the best parts of this yearlong birthday celebration has been the engagement and enthusiasm by Nevadans from all corners of the state and the opportunity to highlight the diverse and rich heritage we enjoy,? he said.
Online voting continues through Aug. 7 at: http://www.nevada150.org/vote-for-the-4th-medallion-design
Mail-in ballots also are available at county treasurer offices throughout the state and at the reception desk at the Grant Sawyer State Office Building in Las Vegas.
The winning design will be announced at a minting ceremony in Carson City on Sept. 3.
As of Thursday morning, nearly 1,600 votes had been cast online.
The commemorative silver medallions sell for $100.50, with copper versions available for $15.
The three previous coins featured Nevada's "Battle Born" logo, a miner and three of the state's most iconic landmarks — the Reno Arch, the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign and "Wendover Will," a 63-foot-tall sign named after the Utah border town of Wendover and William Smith, who founded the Stateline Casino there in 1952.
Sales of the three other coins already have raised more than $300,000 to help finance Nevada's 150th.
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