The San Francisco Mint

THE SAN Francisco Mint, which opened in the spring of 1854, has long fascinated numismatists as a creature of the famed California Gold Rush. It has served the nation well for more than 160 years.

In January 1848, gold was discovered on the Sutter ranch in California, setting off the largest gold rush in the history of this country. By the tens of thousands men left their jobs in the East and went to El Dorado; some would find riches, most did not.

One of the first problems to face the incoming horde of would-be miners was the lack of a circulating currency. There was a small supply of silver coins in daily use, mostly Mexican and U.S., but these were hardly enough to satisfy all of the newcomers. Within a few months private mints had begun to strike a variety of gold coins, some valued as little as 25 cents.

There were constant complaints from Californians about this lack of small change and in 1852 Congress authorized a mint, the location of which was to be decided by the Treasury. San Francisco got the nod. In April 1853, Joseph Curtis was contracted to build the new mint. More than $300,000 was spent on the building and its contents, a very large sum for the time but construction costs on the West Coast were much higher than