Good Morning...Making Moolah

[Okla-homey]

April 2, 1792 Minting the Mint


Alex Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury

In drafting the United States Constitution, the Founding Fathers explicitly handed legislators in the House of Representatives the "(P)ower...To Coin Money." This mandate was borne of an understanding that the new nation would require a stable and respected currency.


The first mint, in Philly.

Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton took up the cause of creating a fiscal system, and set about developing plans for a national mint. Congress eventually followed Hamilton's lead. 214 years ago on this day in 1792, Congress passed the Coinage Act, which founded the Mint, as well as a decimal-based currency system.


The first US buck.

The passage of the Coinage Act touched off a flurry of activity: construction soon began on the Mint building, which was located in the nation's first capital, Philadelphia. And, President George Washington installed top astronomer and mathematician David Rittenhouse as the Mint's inaugural Director. During his tenure, Rittenhouse helped usher 11,178 copper coins into circulation; he also oversaw the initial issues of gold and silver currency.


David Rittenhouse, first director of a US mint.

The number of coins minted today is astounding. Denver and Philadelphia alone produce 65 million to 80 million coins a day.

Mint marks on US coinage indicate where a coin was made. Mint Marks are small letters designating where the coins were minted. The Mint Mark position is usually found on the reverse of coins minted prior to 1965 (with the cent being the exception, its near Lincoln's chin), and on the obverse after 1967.

Coins struck at the Philadelphia mint before 1979 (except 1942-1945 five-cent pieces) do not have a mint mark. Starting in 1979 a letter P was used on the dollar, and on all other denominations except the cent thereafter.

All Dies for United States coins are made at the Philadelphia Mint and are stamped with the appropriate mint mark before they are shipped to the branch mints. The exact positioning and size of the mint mark may vary slightly, depending on where and how deeply the punch was impressed.

Mint marks:

C: Charlotte, North Carolina
(Gold coins only)
1838-1861

CC: Carson City, Nevada
1870-1893

D: Dahlonega, Georgia
(Gold coins only)
1838-1861

D: Denver, Colorado
1906 to Date

O: New Orleans, Louisiana
1838-1909

P: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1793 to Date

S: San Francisco, California
1854 to Date

W: West Point
1984 to Date (gold and platinum coins only)

[Rogue]

I don't know how or when Homey became the SF historian, but I'm glad he did. I wonder if money making will slow down with the prevalence of credit and debit card use?

[12]

I would assume it has some already, but the real changes are yet to come. I expect more and more, our society will become "cashless."

I know that in the last 5 years, I've gone from carrying around $50, to carrying $15 or less on average.

Thanks for posting the mint info. Col Homey. Oddly enough, my wife and I were discussing mint locations just the other day.

Yes, we are geeks.

[Okla-homey]

I think pennies are wasteful. Everything oughta just be rounded to the nearest dime. Then we could get rid of three coins altogether (pennies, nickels and quarters.) That way, all they'd have to mint were dimes and fiddy cent pieces. Postage would have to be done the same way of course.