Rishoi's coinage.

Local artist Mallory Prucha Rishoi is making money, and it’s not just for her wallet. After winning Westminster Mint’s Inaugural International “Green Coin” Design Contest, Rishoi will be placing an important message into the hands of many. As more people are investing in silver and gold due to the economy, Westminster Mint was looking for a silver bullion coin that will speak to the environmental problems we are facing. Currently an instructor and costume shop supervisor in the Music and Theatre Arts department at the UWEC, Rishoi has had a flair for art since childhood. She combined her passion for going green with her artistic talents to great effect: a winning coin design. Packed with symbolism, one side of Rishoi’s coin depicts the Sun with rays transitioning into the wind and an electric plug, an ear of corn transforming into a gasoline nozzle, wind turbines, and a hydro-electric dam along with the words “Solar-Wind-Bio-Fuel” and “Hydro-Electric.” The other side of the coin shows a pair of hands holding a globe with arrows bouncing off of the atmosphere back to earth’s surface representing global warming and human impact. “I hope that this coin serves as a reminder, to those who own it, that the source of the precious metal from which it is made is the beneath our feet every day. It is important to ‘make a mark’ on the world during the course of our lives, but equally important to remain conscientious of how we physically impact our planet in the process,” says Rishoi.