The New Orleans Mint
IN SEPTEMBER 2005 Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans with enormous force, damaging a great part of the city. The levees broke under the onslaught and water poured in at an alarming rate, forced by the strong winds that accompanied the storm. The fabled mint in that city suffered considerable damage, in particular to the roof, and it was some time before it could again be open to the public for tours.
In terms of years, the New Orleans Mint existed from 1835 through 1909, but this is far from telling the complete story. The beginning was mired in pork-barrel politics while the middle years proved to be a case of high drama when the Civil War erupted in 1861.
Our story begins in the late winter of 1834–1835 when Congress was arguing the merits of establishing branch mints in the South. On March 3, 1835, President Andrew Jackson signed a bill that authorized mints at Dahlonega, Charlotte, and New Orleans. The first two institutions were of little practical value to the public and, even under the best of circumstances, only one of them was needed.
The New Orleans branch was another matter entirely. It is true that the then mint director, Samuel Moore, used every artifice at his command to persuade Congress to scuttle all three mints, but in truth the New Orleans proposal was valuable to the country. Large quantities
