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Congressional Gold Medal.com |
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Exclusive information on the congressional medal, medal histories, biographies, and more. Exclusive Congressional Medal Information
Awards Bestowed by the US Government
The Life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta
The History of the United States Mint
Jackie Robinson Posthumously Awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor
Collecting Commemorative Coins
Female Congressional Gold Medal Winners
Audie Murphy: Congressional Medal of Honor Winner The History of the United States Mint From Philadelphia West to San Francisco Published March 16, 2006 by
Sean Keefer Did you know?The New Orleans Mint struck coinage for the United States, the State of Louisiana and the Confederate States of America.
TakeawaysCoins were initially made from gold or silver.Today, no general circulatoin coin contains gold or silver.The United States Mint is separate from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing which prints currency.Every day, millions of coins circulate through the , yet each of these coins originated from one of only a few select locations across the country – the United States Mint. The United States Mint has a history that can be traced back more than 200 years. While paper currency has a flair all its own, coins have a history that is as unique, varied and equally and, in many ways, more appealing.
Prior to the formation of the United States Mint, coins were common place in the American colonies; however, the individual colonies or states coined their own and frequently made use of foreign coins. After the formation of the new nation, while there was a requirement that all of the minted coins meet certain metal content, size and value, there were numerous coins in circulation throughout the country. A certain coin could be recognized in
Pennsylvania, yet totally unfamiliar to a person in
South Carolina.It was in large part due to this that a movement for a national mint began to gain popularity. In the early 1780’s, Robert Morris, the head of the United States Finance Department was instructed by Congress to prepare a study on the issue of foreign coins then in circulation in the United States. Morris, in conjunction with Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton increased the effort for an official United States Mint to allow for the production of a standardized coinage for the new nation. This resulted in the Coinage Act being signed by President George Washington on April 2, 1792. With the establishment of the Mint, the also adopted the decimal system for coins and currency. Prior to this, the Spanish system, known as “pieces of eight,” together with the English pound and schilling system had been used. It is also important to realize that the United States Mint is separate and distinct from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing which prints the ’ currency.Following the Coinage Act, the first central mint in the was opened in
Philadelphia. The building which was constructed to house the new facilities was the first building built in the for use by the new government. This original mint in Philadelphia
, though it has been expanded and relocated a total of four times, remains in existence today. It was in October of 1792, after receiving six pounds of silver, that the new Mint released their first coins, a batch of silver half-dimes. Pennies followed in 1793. In September of 1795, the first gold coins, half Eagles, were released. The Mint was expanded in 1829 to accommodate the increased demand for more coins and as it had become to store bullion stored at the Mint, in addition to the size and production capability of the Mint, the security of the building was also increased. Though the facility was expanded in 1830, the Philadelphia Mint was striking coins at full capacity, yet they were unable to keep up with the demand for the coins. While there are still many similarities in the process, a great deal of the source metal for the coins in the early years of the mint came from precious medal that was mined in the United States, making the minting of coins at the central mint in Philadelphia problematic. Many merchants conducted their trade using only minted coins. As a result, miners in remote areas of the country had to ship their raw silver or gold to Philadelphia to be minted. This posed a number of problems. First, the miner had to pay the shipping cost which could be substantial. There was a risk of theft along the way and most bothersome point of using this method was the time delay. It could take months for the miner to get their coins back from the mint. This led to branches of the mint being opened in various locations throughout the country. Typically, the locations of a branch office related to areas where gold or silver being mined, or, in the case of
New Orleans, as it was a shipping hub, a location to which gold and silver were shipped and received. Though there have only been a handful of branches, several, as set out below, continue in operation. The Mint and all branches have the capacity and ability to produce a tremendous number of coins with the
Philadelphia and
Denver branches alone being able to produce up to 80 million coins a day. Each of these branches was opened for timeframes of varying duration and, to designate where a particular coin was minted, each branch struck coins with a unique symbol to denote where the particular coin was minted. The different branches, the times they were opened and active and there symbols are listed below.1. Charlotte Mint – located in Charlotte,
North Carolina, the branch operated from 1838 – 1861 and used the symbol, “C” to denote their coins. The coins minted here were made almost exclusively from the gold that was then being mined in the
Carolinas. When
North Carolina seceded from the Union , the branch was closed. Very few of the coins minted in
Charlotte survive today making them collector’s items.2.
Dahlonega Mint – located in Dahlonega, Georgia, the branch operated from 1838 – 1861 and used the symbol, “D” to denote their coins. As with the Charlotte Mint, the coins from Dahlonega were made from gold being mined in the area. When left the Union, this branch also closed. As with
Charlotte, very few of the Dahlonega coins survive also making them prized by collectors. 3.
New Orleans Mint – located in New Orleans,
Louisiana, the branch operated from 1838 – 1909; however, was inactive from 1861 until 1879 as a result of the Civil War and Reconstruction. The branch used the symbol, “O” to denote their coins. The mint struck both silver and gold coins. Interestingly enough, the branch struck coinage in 1861 for the , the State of
Louisiana and the Confederacy following
Louisiana’s departure from the
Union.
4.
San Francisco – located in San Francisco,
California, the branch began operation in 1854 following the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill. The
San Francisco branch continues production today being responsible for the proof coinage for the Mint. The branch uses the symbol, “S” to denote their coins.5.
Carson City – located in Carson City,
Nevada, the branch operated from 1870 – 1893 and used the symbol, “CC” to denote their coins. The
Carson City branch struck silver coins, largely from the silver mined at the Comstock Lode in
Nevada.6.
Denver – located in Denver,
Colorado, the branch opened in 1906 and continues in operation today, using the symbol, “D” to denote their coins. Initially, the branch struck coins using gold and silver that came from the nearby
Cripple Creek
mine. Today the branch is responsible for producing coins for general circulation.
7. West Point – located in West Point,
New York, the branch began striking medallions in 1980 and coins in 1988. The mint used the symbol, “W” to denote their coins. Before becoming an official Mint branch in 1988, the facility was a storage point for silver bullion. So much silver was stored there that the facility was called the “Fort Knox of Silver.” Today the branch strikes commemorative coins, modern gold and silver coins and American Eagle Gold Bullion which are frequently used for investments and are rarely circulated. The branch also has a facility at Fort Knox,
Kentucky; though, coins are not struck there, it is only for storage of bullion.
8.
Manila – located in the at the time when the were a colony of the , the branch struck coins for the colony. The coins from
Manila bore either the “M” designation or no designation at all. The mint was operational from 1920 – 1922 and from 1925 – 1945.For much of the history of the United States Mint, coins were minted from either gold or silver. However, there have been many changes in the composition and denominations of the coins struck by the Mint since its creation. For instance, dollar coins were minted from 1794 through 1935 then discontinued. The production of dollar coins were resumed in 1971 when the Eisenhower dollar was first struck. In 1979, the Susan B. Anthony dollar replaced the Eisenhower coin, then, in 2000, the Sacagawea dollar was issued creating two dollar coins. The Sacagawea coin has a copper core that is clad with an alloy consisting of copper, zinc, manganese, and nickel. The blend of this alloy gives the coin a golden color. The penny, once an alloy of 95% copper and 5% zinc is now virtually all zinc with a copper coating. The other basic coins in circulation today are made of copper and nickel. Presently, for common use, the United States Mint strikes the penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar and dollar – both Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea. In the past, the mint has struck coins in the denominations of the half-cent, two-cent, three-cent, and 20-cent pieces, along with a silver coin called the half-dime. Gold coins were made in denominations of $1, $2.50 (called the Quarter Eagle), $3, $5 (called the Half Eagle), $10 (called the Eagle), and $20 (called the Double Eagle).
The Director of the United States Mint, together with the assistance of the Secretary of the Treasury determines the design of coins that the Mint will make; however, it is possible for the Congress to prescribe certain designs for coins. In addition to these coin addressed above, the Mint will, from time to time, strike commemorative coins for special events. These are authorized by Congress, but operate at no cost to the taxpayer. As smaller runs of these coins are made and sell at a premium, they rarely circulate.Though in the past, the Mint would create coinage from raw metal delivered from mines, the current process of minting a coin begins with purchase, from commercial suppliers, of strips of metal the thickness of the coin to be struck. These strips are fed into presses and the actual coin shapes are cut. The shapes are treated and given a raised “ridge,” then sent on to the presses. The coin is placed under tremendous pressure – the penny is struck with 40 tons of pressure and the higher denomination coins receive proportionately more pressure to each side. This process also places the ridges on the outside edge of the coin, except in the case of the nickel and penny which have smooth edges.
More information on the Mint, including the answers to many Frequently Asked Questions and a variety of interesting facts, can be found at usmint.gov. User-generated content powered by
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