When the US Constitution was ratified in 1789, it authorized the Treasury to coin money for the young nation. The capital was Philadelphia at the time, so it made sense that the first mint would be located there, and the country’s first coins were released in March 1793
A New Mint for the Gold Rush
Half a century later, the discovery of gold in California led to many banks and individuals minting their own coins to ease the shortage of US money in the area. Since the making of those coins wasn’t regulated, the possibility of fraud was high. To save the time, danger and expense of transporting the California gold to Philadelphia for official coining, in 1852 Congress approved establishing a mint in San Francisco. Production began in a small brick building in 1854, and by the end of the year, the new mint had converted over $4 million worth of gold bullion into coins.
Stately New Quarters
The San Francisco mint soon outgrew its original location, and in 1874 a palatial Greek Revival building became the mint’s new home. Six columns at the top of a large stone stairway supported a pedimented portico at the building’s entrance. It was flanked by three-floor wings that enclosed an open central courtyard. The structure was supported by a concrete and granite foundation, designed to prevent tunneling into the ground floor vaults that contained as much as a third of the nation’s gold reserves.
Dodging Disaster
The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire threatened the mint building, melting its glass windows and seriously damaging its sandstone façade. Fortunately, the courtyard contained a well and the solid foundation protected the vaults and held up the outer walls. Mint employees fought the fire with water from the well and saved most of the building and its bullion reserves. One of few buildings to survive the disaster, it resumed operation shortly after the fires were extinguished and repairs were made to the building and its contents. It remained in operation until 1937 and exists today as a California and US historic landmark. It is currently used as museum and event space and is undergoing renovation by the California Historical Society.
A New Building and A New Mission
A new mint building opened in San Francisco in 1937, and it was one of three locations producing circulating coins for the country until 1955. Operations were suspended for thirteen years, but resumed in 1968 when it took over production of most proof coinage from the Philadelphia mint. From 1968 to 1974, it also struck coins for circulation to supplement production at Philadelphia and Denver. Susan B. Anthony dollars were minted in San Francisco from 1979 to 1981, and some one-cent coins were struck in the early 80s. While the dollar coins bore the S mintmark, the cents struck for circulation were plain, making them indistinguishable from Philadelphia issues. Uncirculated rolls and bags of America the Beautiful quarters are also produced at San Francisco for collectors and are not released for circulation.
Unlike the Philadelphia and Denver mints, the San Francisco facility is not open to the public, but private tours are offered on rare occasions.
San Francisco Mint Trivia
- Over ten billion coins have been minted in San Francisco
- Six billion of those coins were one-cent pieces
- Over 2 million half dimes and one million twenty-cent pieces were made in San Francisco before they were discontinued in the 1870s
- Nearly 90 million $20 Double Eagle gold coins were struck in San Francisco with a total value of over $1.765 billion
- Half a billion dollars’ worth of one-dollar coins have been made there in both silver and gold
- Other gold coins stuck in San Francisco included $10 Gold Eagles, $5 Half Eagles, $2.50 Quarter Eagles, and $3 gold coins
