History United States Mint

the first branch mint in california located @ 608–619 commercial street, san francisco, san francisco county. branch opened on april 3, 1854. today building houses pacific heritage museum.

the mint created congress coinage act of 1792, , placed within department of state. per terms of coinage act, first mint building in philadelphia, capital of united states; first building of republic raised under constitution. today, mint s headquarters (a non-coin-producing facility) in washington d.c.. operates mint facilities in philadelphia, denver, san francisco, , west point, new york , bullion depository @ fort knox, kentucky. official mints (branches) once located in carson city, nevada; charlotte, north carolina; dahlonega, georgia; new orleans, louisiana; washington, d.c.; , in manila, in philippines.

originally part of state department, mint made independent agency in 1799. converted precious metals standard coin s account no seigniorage charge beyond refining costs. under coinage act of 1873, mint became part of department of treasury. placed under auspices of treasurer of united states in 1981. legal tender coins of today minted solely treasury s account.

the first director of united states mint renowned scientist david rittenhouse 1792 1795. position held edmund c. moy until resignation effective january 9, 2011. (the position vacant, mint being run principal deputy director, rhett jeppson, appointed in january 2015). henry voigt first superintendent , chief coiner, , credited of first u.s. coin designs. important position @ mint of chief engraver, has been held such men frank gasparro, william barber, charles e. barber, james b. longacre, , christian gobrecht.

the mint has operated several branch facilities throughout united states since philadelphia mint opened in 1792, in building known ye olde mint . opening of branch mints came need mint marks, identifying feature on coin show facility of origin. first of these branch mints charlotte, north carolina (1838–1861), dahlonega, georgia (1838–1861), , new orleans, louisiana (1838–1909) branches. both charlotte (c mint mark) , dahlonega (d mint mark) mints opened facilitate conversion of local gold deposits coinage, , minted gold coins. civil war closed both these facilities permanently. new orleans mint (o mint mark) closed @ beginning of civil war (1861) , did not re-open until end of reconstruction in 1879. during 2 stints minting facility, produced both gold , silver coinage in eleven different denominations, though ten denominations ever minted there @ 1 time (in 1851 silver three-cent pieces, half dimes, dimes, quarters, half dollars, , gold dollars, quarter eagles, half eagles, eagles, , double eagles).

a new branch facility opened in carson city, nevada, in 1870; operated until 1893, three-year hiatus 1886 1888. charlotte , dahlonega branches, carson city mint (cc mint mark) opened take advantage of local precious metal deposits, in case, large vein of silver. though gold coins produced there, no base metal coins were.

in 1911 mint had female acting director, margaret kelly, @ point highest paid woman on government s payroll. stated women paid equally within bureau.

a branch of u.s. mint (manila mint) established in 1920 in manila in philippines, u.s. colony. date, manila mint u.s. mint established outside continental u.s. , responsible producing coins colony (one, five, ten, twenty , fifty centavo denominations). branch in production 1920 1922, , again 1925 through 1941. coins struck mint bear either m mintmark (for manila) or none @ all, similar philadelphia mint @ time.

a branch mint in dalles, oregon, commissioned in 1864. construction halted in 1870, , facility never produced coins, although building still stands.