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Death Valley Days - The Man Who'd Bet on Anything (1956) |
Carson City Nevada story with Golden Gate Expo Token and CC Silver Dollar
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"Death Valley Days" was a half-hour television series which was produced for local television stations
and ran from 1952 to 1970.
The host was the "Old Ranger" (actor Stanley Andrews) who appeared as an Old West lawman
who introduced the story.
The episode "The Man Who'd Bet on Anything" was first broadcast on January 16, 1956.
Abraham Curry (1815-1873) was a Nevada pioneer who founded the city of Carson City
and arranged for the city to become the state capitol and home to a United States branch mint.
Abe is married and has a daughter. He pulls a $20 gold piece from his wife's ear and places it on a table.
The prop coin is a San Francisco Golden Gate Exposition China Clipper token.
A pile of coins won in a bet are shown on a table.
The coins are standard film prop or imitation coins.
The Old Ranger concludes the program by holding a Carson City silver dollar and explaining the
"CC" mint mark.
1. Program title
The Old Ranger appears seated at a desk and introduces the program.
2. The Old Ranger
Howdy folks, I'm the Old Ranger.
Some folks are born gamblers, and Abraham Curry was one of them. His family used to say that the first words abe ever uttered was, "I betcha." And 43 years later, which is when we meet him, he is known as "The Man Who'd Bet on Anything".
Some folks are born gamblers, and Abraham Curry was one of them. His family used to say that the first words abe ever uttered was, "I betcha." And 43 years later, which is when we meet him, he is known as "The Man Who'd Bet on Anything".
Abe Curry has bought a tract of land called Eagle Ranch in the valley east of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
He hires surveyor Jerry Long to survey the land.
3. Abe Curry makes an offer
Abe hasn't much money left and he offers Jerry a plot of land for his fee.
Abe has a house built for himself, his wife Mary Ann, and his daughter Elvira.
4. Abe pulls out coin
Abe gives the coin, a $20 gold piece, to his wife and tells her to go into nearby Virginia City and buy something.
The coin lies on the table.
5. Coin on the table
The coin shows the reverse of a Golden Gate Exposition token upside down.
A San Francisco Golden Gate Exposition China Clipper token:
6. San Francisco Golden Gate Exposition - China Clipper token
Brass, 31 mm, 10.52 gm
Obverse:
Golden Gate Bridge, sunset, fair building
GOLDEN GATE INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION / PATENTED C110010
1939 / SAN FRANCISCO BAY
Reverse:
Airplane, Golden Gate Bridge
CHINA CLIPPER / Compass letters 'W', 'N', 'E', 'S' around edge / L-50-lC
Golden Gate Bridge, sunset, fair building
GOLDEN GATE INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION / PATENTED C110010
1939 / SAN FRANCISCO BAY
Airplane, Golden Gate Bridge
CHINA CLIPPER / Compass letters 'W', 'N', 'E', 'S' around edge / L-50-lC
For more about this token please visit: San Francisco Golden Gate Exposition
Back to the film:
The United States Congress votes to establish a separate territory of Nevada by splitting the Utah Territory.
7. Abe hosts capitol committee
Abe continues to lobby the territorial legislature to establish the state capitol in Carson City with
the mining town of Virginia City the main rival.
8. It's Carson City
The legislature establishes the capitol in Carson City and Abe dreams of the future capitol building and a
proposed branch mint.
9. The future capitol building
"There'll be a capitol building on the plaza, made of stone, with a shining dome. And across from it, a courthouse."
10. The future mint building
"And on a block I set aside in town, a building that Nevada needs for all the gold and silver taken from its mines,
a branch of the United States Mint."
Abe purchases a regular fire engine and a man shows up with a "high tech" steam fire engine.
11. Fire engine bet
Abe makes a bet that the steam engine can not run continuously for 12 hours.
Abe wins his bet.
Abe wins his bet.
12. Winnings on the table
The coins are standard film prop or imitation coins.
13. Abe swears an oath
Abe swears an oath never to bet again. His wife remarks that he won't stop betting.
14. The Old Ranger returns
If you ever get hold of a silver dollar with the letters "CC" on it, which are rare nowadays,
you'll know that it came from the Carson City Mint, built by Abraham Curry, the father of Carson City.
A man who believed you could make anything happen If you care enough, and proved it.
A Carson City Silver Dollar dated 1884:
15. United States Morgan silver dollar 1884-CC
Silver, 38 mm, 26.73 gm
This coin is one of the General Services Administration (GSA) Carson City silver dollars sold to the public in 1972 and 1973.
Cast, Directors, Writers:
Stanley Andrews as The Old Ranger
Mark Bennett as Abe Curry
Helen Gilbert as Mary Ann Curry
Mayo Loizeaux as Elvira Curry
Mollie McGowan as Elvira Curry age 6
Melodie McGowan as Elvira Curry age 12
Van Kirke as Jerry Long
Frank Dae as Governor James W. Nye
Director: Stuart E. McGowan
Writers: Ruth Woodman
Mark Bennett as Abe Curry
Helen Gilbert as Mary Ann Curry
Mayo Loizeaux as Elvira Curry
Mollie McGowan as Elvira Curry age 6
Melodie McGowan as Elvira Curry age 12
Van Kirke as Jerry Long
Frank Dae as Governor James W. Nye
Writers: Ruth Woodman
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