Roush and his wife Carolyn were among about 3,000 people who converged on the national historic site, about 29 miles west of Corrine in Box Elder County, to witness the coin's unveiling and celebrate the 137th anniversary and re-enactment of the driving of the spike at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869.
Life-sized replicas of the Jupiter and No. 119 locomotives framed Wednesday's event, where state and local dignitaries posed to recreate the famous C. R. Savage photo showing the two trains meeting.
Roush said his great-grandfather, William Neeley, appears in the original photo, and may have been the mayor of Brigham City at the time. He would have approved of the coin's design.
"I think he probably would have been pushing for it right from the start," Roush said.
Huntsman chose the golden spike design after a majority of Utahns who took an online poll at a state Web site voted it their favorite. Of more than 135,000 votes, 52 percent picked the golden spike, 27 percent chose Utah's state symbol of a beehive and 21 percent liked the design of a female snowboarder.
"Along with it being the most popular coin choice among Utahns, the joining of the rails was an extremely important event in U.S. history," Huntsman spokesman Mike Mower said. "The coin's design is also aesthetically pleasing."
Floyd O'Neil, a retired University of Utah history professor, said Utahns picked the design with the "strongest message."
The driving of the spike "is as important a date in Utah [19th Century] history as we have," he said.
The three designs, which had already been approved by the U.S. Mint, were taken from nearly 5,000 ideas submitted by Utah school children and adults.
On Wednesday, Huntsman inscribed a railroad spike with the words, "Our choice!" which will now be sent to the U.S. Mint.
"I'm glad it was an historical choice," Murray resident Maryann Christensen said after the governor's announcement. "I'm just a big fan of remembering our roots."
Beverly Packer of Brigham City agreed.
The spike design "represents more of the whole state of Utah than the others did," she said.
jbergreen@sltrib.com
