The San Francisco Mint is a

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term ''twig'' usually ...

of the

United States Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. It does not produce paper money; tha ...

. Opened in 1854 to serve the gold mines of the California Gold Rush, in twenty years its operations exceeded the capacity of the first building. It moved into a new one in 1874, now known as the

Old San Francisco Mint The Old San Francisco Mint (also Old United States Mint or simply Old Mint, nicknamed The Granite Lady) is a building that served as the location of the San Francisco branch of the United States Mint from 1874 until 1937. The building is one of ...

. In 1937 Mint operations moved into a third building, the current one, completed that year.

History

Original United States Mint and Subtreasury (1854)

The San Francisco Mint began operations in 1854 at 608 Commercial Street, just west of Montgomery Street. The building sat between Commercial and Clay Streets and a historical plaque can be found today on Commercial. Since June 14, 1970, the building has been listed as a

San Francisco Designated Landmark This is a list of San Francisco Designated Landmarks. In 1967, the city of San Francisco, California adopted Article 10 of the Planning Code, providing the city with the authority to designate and protect landmarks from inappropriate alterations. ...

. Within the first year of its operation, the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

mint turned $4 million in gold bullion into coins. Because of the scale of its increase in operations due to economic growth, a new building was soon required. Construction of the new location approximately 1 mile away began in 1869 at Fifth Street and Mission Street. The mint operations moved to that building in 1874.

Old San Francisco Mint (1874)

''See more:

The second US Mint building here, completed in 1874 for the Department of the Treasury, was designed by

Alfred B. Mullett Alfred Bult Mullett (April 7, 1834 – October 20, 1890) was a British-American architect who served from 1866 to 1874 as Supervising Architect, head of the agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government build ...

in a conservative

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

style with a sober

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of c ...

. The columns and most of the exterior and upper floors was constructed of sandstone. It was quarried at Newcastle Island,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, near the city of Nanaimo and imported for this purpose. The building had a central

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

ed portico flanked by projecting wings in an E-shape; it was built around a completely enclosed central courtyard that contained a well. These features saved it during the fire of 1906 that followed the

San Francisco Earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...

, when the heat melted the plate glass windows and exploded sandstone and granite blocks with which it was faced. The building is based on a concrete and granite foundation, designed to thwart tunneling into its vaults. At the time of the 1906, the Mint held $300 million, fully a third of the United States' gold reserves. Efforts by Superintendent of the Mint, Frank A. Leach, and his men preserved the building and the bullion that backed the nation's currency. The mint resumed operation soon thereafter, continuing until 1937 at this site. Now known as the

, it was designated as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1961 and sold to the city of San Francisco in 2003. There are plans for adaptive reuse, including as a museum, and continued special events space.

Current building

The new Mint was opened in 1937. Beginning in 1955, circulating coinage from

was suspended for 13 years. In 1968, this facility took over most

proof coinage Proof coinage refers to special early samples of a coin issue, historically made for checking the dies (as in demonstrating that something is true) and for archival purposes. Nowadays proofs are often struck in greater numbers specially for co ...

production from the

Philadelphia Mint The Philadelphia Mint in Philadelphia was created from the need to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States. This led the Founding Fathers of the United States to make an establishment of a continental national ...

, but continued striking a supplemental circulating coinage from 1968 through 1974. Since 1975, the San Francisco Mint has been used almost exclusively for proof coinage, with the exception of the Susan B. Anthony dollar from 1979–81, a portion of the mintage of cents in the early 1980s, and circulation-strike America the Beautiful quarters marked with an "S" mintmark and issued only for collectors since 2012. The dollars and quarters bear a mintmark of an "S", but the cents are otherwise indistinguishable from those minted at Philadelphia (which bear no mintmarks, unlike those years' proof cents from San Francisco and circulation cents from

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

). From 1962 to 1988, the San Francisco Mint was officially an assay office; the San Francisco Assay Office was granted mint status again on March 31, 1988 (). The San Francisco Mint is located at 155 Hermann Street. It admits visitors only as a rare exception. On May 15, 1987, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Mint, a limited number of people were allowed to tour the facility. This tour was advertised in the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'' newspaper, with reservations required.

Commemoratives

San Francisco Old Mint Gold

In 2006, the

released a gold five dollar

commemorative coin Commemorative coins are coins issued to commemorate some particular event or issue with a distinct design with reference to the occasion on which they were issued. Many coins of this category serve as collectors items only, although some countries ...

which commemorates the 100th year after the old

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...

survived an

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

. The mint also played a part in the city's recovery after the earthquake, providing shelter for many as it was one of the few buildings left standing. The coin was minted as both a

proof coin Proof coinage refers to special early samples of a coin issue, historically made for checking the dies (as in demonstrating that something is true) and for archival purposes. Nowadays proofs are often struck in greater numbers specially for c ...

and an

uncirculated coin The term uncirculated coin can refer to three things: * A coin that is released to the public but not intended for general circulation (i.e. not used as money although it is still legal tender) but is available through a mint or through a local ...

, and is no longer available directly from the

. On June 15, 2006, President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

signed Public Law 109-230, legislation authorizing the production of the 2006

$5 commemorative gold coin as well as its $1 silver counterpart. The production of the $5 denomination was limited to a maximum mintage of 100,000 coins, but separate mintage figures for each of the proof and uncirculated coins have not yet been released. The $1 silver version was limited to only 500,000 coins, both in proof and uncirculated products, but distinct mintage figures for both products has not been officially stated. The reverse was designed by

Christian Gobrecht Christian Gobrecht (December 23, 1785 – July 23, 1844) was the third Chief Engraver of the United States Mint from 1840 until his death in 1844. He was responsible for designing the famous " Seated Liberty" designs, which were in turn the di ...

and sculpted by

Joseph Menna Joseph Francis Menna (born March 1970) is an American sculptor and engraver who has worked in both digital and traditional sculpture media. He has been the Chief Engraver of the United States Mint since February, 2019. Biography Menna trained form ...

. Features *Coin Finishes: proof, and uncirculated *Maximum Mintage: 100,000 - The final mintages were 16,938 uncirculated, and 47,275 proof. *United States Mint Facility: San Francisco (S) * Public Law: 109-230

San Francisco Old Mint Silver

In 2006, the

released a silver dollar

which commemorates the 100th anniversary of the survival of the

in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The Mint also played a part in the city's recovery after the earthquake. The coin was sold both as a

and an

, with a maximum coinage of 500,000 coins. Features
This coin has a design of the Old San Francisco Mint on the

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...

and a replica of the 1904 eagle design on the

reverse Reverse or reversing may refer to: Arts and media * ''Reverse'' (Eldritch album), 2001 * ''Reverse'' (2009 film), a Polish comedy-drama film * ''Reverse'' (2019 film), an Iranian crime-drama film * ''Reverse'' (Morandi album), 2005 * ''Reverse'' ...

. *Coin finishes: proof, and uncirculated *Maximum Mintage: 500,000 (at the time) *United States Mint Facility: San Francisco (s) * Public Law: 109-230

References

External links

Official San Francisco Mint website"US Mint Buildings Across the Nation: San Francisco Mint"

US Treasury Department The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

website, 2007.
"New San Francisco Mint" article (1936)
*Michael Castleman, "Grace Under fire", ''Smithsonian Magazine'' April 2006, pp 56ff Mint Superintendent

Frank Leach Frank Aleamon Leach (August 19, 1846 – June 19, 1929) was a United States newspaperman who was Director of the United States Mint from 1906 to 1909. In the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the heroic efforts by Frank A. Leach ...

and his men saved the mint during the San Francisco fire, 1906.
"The Second US Mint at San Francisco: Part One" ArticleGeneral Services Administration page on the Old Mint, San Francisco
{{Registered Historic Places United States Mint Mints of the United States Government buildings in San Francisco California Gold Rush Government agencies established in 1854 Manufacturing plants in the United States South of Market, San Francisco Western Addition, San Francisco Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in San Francisco San Francisco Designated Landmarks 1874 in California Government buildings completed in 1874 1870s architecture in the United States Neoclassical architecture in California 1937 in California Government buildings completed in 1937 1930s architecture in the United States Moderne architecture in California Stripped Classical architecture in the United States 1854 establishments in California