Thomas Jefferson first proposed the decimal currency system, which is still used today.It was the first coin to feature the motto “In God We Trust”. A two-cent coin was minted from 1864 to 1873.The first Philadelphia Mint used harnessed horses to drive the coinage machinery.For an idea of how much coinage is produced each year, in 2000 the Mint produced 28 billion coins. Distributing coins from Mint branches to Federal Reserve BanksĬontrary to popular belief, the Mint is not responsible for producing paper currency – that responsibility belongs to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, under the Treasury Department.Disbursing gold and silver for authorized purposes.Safeguarding and controlling the movement of bullion.Designing, producing, and marketing special coinage.Designing and producing the congressional gold medals.Manufacturing and selling national commemorative medals.Mint bears the following functions and responsibilities: Nickel bearing the “P” mint mark Functions of the Mint Numismatists often use the presence or absence of a mint mark on a coin as a marker of value. coins has changed several times throughout history. The system was fairly self-explanatory: Philadelphia= P, Charlotte = C, New Orleans = O, Dahlonega = D, Carson City = CC, etc. government featured a mint mark, a letter indicating the Mint branch where the coin was produced. Currently there are four active Mint branches: Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, and West Point. A branch in The Dalles, Oregon was commissioned in 1864 but never completed. In 1870, to take advantage of local silver deposits, a new branch was opened in Carson City, Nevada and operated until 1893. The New Orleans Mint produced silver three-cent pieces, dimes, half dimes, quarters, and half dollars and gold dollars, Eagles, Half Eagles, Quarter Eagles, and Double Eagles. The New Orleans Mint also closed as a result of the Civil War, but reopened at the end of Reconstruction in 1879. Circumstances of the American Civil War, which began in 1861, closed both Mints permanently. The Charlotte and Dahlonega Mints were established to meet the need to use local gold deposits for coinage, and they minted only gold coins. On March 3, 1835, Congressional legislation established additional Mint branches in three different cities: New Orleans, Louisiana Charlotte, North Carolina and Dahlonega, Georgia. President Washington lived only a few blocks from the Philadelphia Mint building, and legend has it that he donated some of his own personal silver reserves for the minting. The Mint began issuing gold and silver coins next. Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were included in the research and development of early versions of the coins. Under his term, the Mint produced and delivered its first circulating coins in March 1793, consisting of 11,178 copper cents. President George Washington appointed renowned American scientist David Rittenhouse as the first Director of the United States Mint. The Coinage Act originally authorized the Mint to coin gold Eagles, Half Eagles, and Quarter Eagles silver dollars, half dollars, quarter dollars, dimes, and half dimes and copper cents and half cents. government under the Constitution, known as the “Ye Olde Mint”. ![]() It was the first federal building erected by the U.S. On April 2, 1792, Congress passed the Coinage Act, which established the Mint and authorized construction of the first Mint building in Philadelphia, the nation’s capitol at the time. Just a few years after the final ratification of the Constitution, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton began preparing plans for a national Mint. Before the establishment of the Mint, early Americans traded goods and services using foreign currency. Constitution recognized the need for an official monetary system. ![]() ![]() But how exactly did the Mint come about? Who established it? What specifically does it do, and where? Read on to find out. Constitution states: “The Congress shall have the Power…To Coin Money.” From that statement came the United States Mint, the government body responsible for producing official U.S.
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