Lincoln County will host a 250th Coin Challenge this summer in preparation for America’s 250th celebration. PHOTO/LINCOLNCOUNTYWY.GOV

Lincoln County Economic Development has created a countywide challenge coin program and scavenger hunt for America’s semiquincentennial. Each incorporated community will have its own coin alongside a county coin, and participants who visit designated historic and notable sites around the county can earn a complete set.

“We put together a committee, and one of the things in that committee we identified was a challenge coin. And that challenge coin will represent Lincoln County,” said Robert King, director of the Lincoln Economic Development Council and the Star Valley Chamber. Each incorporated town in the county agreed to produce its own coin for the initiative.

The program includes 40 scavenger-hunt sites — 20 in the southern part of the county and 20 in the north — comprised of historic locations and other points of interest. Organizers are preparing a map to guide participants and expect to publish it around May 1. Visitors must photograph themselves at each site and upload the images to the project webpage to qualify for the prize: the county coin plus the community coins collected.

“We will have a webpage that they’ll submit those pictures to… and on July 4, both in Star Valley and in Kemmerer, we will hold award ceremonies and present those coins,” King said.

Coins will also be sold outside the scavenger hunt, with municipalities likely offering their community coins through town halls. The county has ordered 4,000 coins initially and will release purchase details and contest deadlines in the coming weeks. “We’re kind of excited to see as they come out what they’re gonna look like,” King added.

The scavenger hunt and coin program are part of a broader slate of community and economic development activities the chamber and Lincoln County Economic Development are promoting as the 250th celebrations approach. King said additional details will be posted on the chamber website and shared with local media as they become available.