Photos: Library of Congress
Top to bottom: US Mint in New Orleans, 1880 – 1901; US Mint in Philadelphia, 1905; US Mint in San Francisco following the earthquake, 1906.
The sturdiness of this facility, later called the“ Old Mint,” became evident during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire; it was one of few buildings in the city that survived. Diligent mint workers and a shift in wind direction helped saved the building and its underground vaults, which at the time housed $ 300 million in bullion. By 1936, even this venerable building became too small to handle the demand for coins throughout the western United States. The government began operating a new San Francisco facility the following year. The“ New Mint” produced circulating coinage until 1955. In 1968, it began producing proof coinage sets; it continues to serve this function today.
Meanwhile, in 1961, the still-standing“ Old Mint” was designated a National Historic Landmark and has been periodically open to visitors. Recently, the California Historical Society began to restore the building and preserve it for use as a public space.
Even while the San Francisco Mint was going strong, a silver strike in Carson City, Nevada prompted the government to begin operating another branch mint in 1870. The Carson City facility produced gold and silver coins until 1893. The building closed that year, but it re-opened two years later and served as an assay office until 1933. The State of Nevada acquired the building in 1939, and it now houses the Nevada State Museum.
A gold strike in Colorado in 1858 prompted the government to open another mint assay office within a few years. In 1860, three entrepreneurs opened a private mint inside their bank. They produced coins and shipped gold dust to the Philadelphia Mint. In 1872, another group of men opened a smelting and refining company, which processed ore ingots for assaying by the Denver Mint. In 1896, the government purchased the land on which it would build a permanent branch mint there. The new facility began operating in 1906— two years after its new stamping machinery was exhibited at the 1904 St. Louis World’ s Fair. It remains in operation today.
In 1862, gold was discovered in eastern Oregon. Dalles City, located on the Columbia River, became the nerve center of the gold rush. Riverboats carried the gold ore westward to Portland for the long ocean voyage to the San Francisco
30 FINANCIAL HISTORY | Spring 2017 | www. MoAF. org