United States Mint
Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | April 2, 1792 |
Jurisdiction | Federal government of the United States |
Headquarters | 38°54′01″N 77°01′25″W / 38.90028°N 77.02361°W Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Employees | 1,845 (2006) |
Agency executive | |
Parent agency | Department of the Treasury |
Website | www |
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.[1] The U.S. Mint is one of two U.S. agencies that produce money in the case of minting coinage; the other is the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which prints paper currency. The first United States Mint was created in Philadelphia in 1792, and soon joined by other centers, whose coins were identified by their own mint marks. There are currently four active coin-producing mints: Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, and West Point.
History
The first authorization for the establishment of a mint in the United States was in a resolution of the
The current United States Mint was created by
Originally part of the
The first Director of the United States Mint was renowned scientist David Rittenhouse from 1792 to 1795. The position is currently filled by Ventris Gibson.[5] Henry Voigt was the first Superintendent and Chief Coiner, and is credited with some of the first U.S. coin designs. Another important position at the Mint is that of Chief Engraver, which has been held by such men as Frank Gasparro, William Barber, Charles E. Barber, James B. Longacre, and Christian Gobrecht.[6]
The Mint has operated several
A new branch facility was opened in Carson City, Nevada, in 1870; it operated until 1893, with a three-year hiatus from 1886 to 1888. Like the Charlotte and Dahlonega branches, the Carson City Mint (CC mint mark) was opened to take advantage of local precious metal deposits, in this case, a large vein of silver. Though gold coins were also produced there, no base metal coins were.[9]
In 1911 the Mint had a female acting director, Margaret Kelly, at that point the highest paid woman on the government's payroll. She stated that women were paid equally within the bureau.[10]
A branch of the U.S. mint (Manila Mint) was established in 1920 in Manila in the Philippines, which was then a U.S. territory. To date, the Manila Mint is the only U.S. mint established outside the continental U.S. and was responsible for producing coins (one, five, ten, twenty and fifty centavo denominations). This branch was in production from 1920 to 1922, and then again from 1925 through 1941.[11] Coins struck by this mint bear either the M mintmark (for Manila) or none at all, similar to the Philadelphia mint at the time.
A
Current facilities
There are four active coin-producing mints: Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, and West Point.
Philadelphia
The Mint's largest facility is the
Denver
The Denver Mint began in 1863 as the local assay office, just five years after gold was discovered in the area. By the turn of the century, the office was bringing in over $5 million in annual gold and silver deposits, and in 1906, the Mint opened its new Denver branch.[16] Denver uses a D mint mark and strikes mostly circulation coinage, although it has struck commemorative coins in the past, such as the $10 gold 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Commemorative.[17] It also produces its own working dies, as well as working dies for the other mints.[16] Although the Denver and Dahlonega mints used the same mint mark D, they were never in operation at the same time, so this is not a source of ambiguity.
San Francisco
The
West Point
The
Fort Knox
While not a coin production facility, the U.S. Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky, is another facility of the Mint. Its primary purpose is for storage of the United States and other countries' gold and silver bullion reserves.[26]
The US Mint's Gold Depositories
The US Treasury owns 8133.5 tonnes of gold,[27] 7628 tonnes of which is stored in US Mint storage facilities, namely, 4582 tonnes (147.3 million troy ozs) in the US Bullion Depository in Fort Knox, Kentucky, 1682 tonnes (54.1 million troy ozs) in the West Point bullion storage facility in upstate New York, and 1364 tonnes (43.8 million troy ozs) in the US Mint facility in Denver, Colorado.[28]
Functions
The Mint manages extensive commercial marketing programs. The product line includes special coin sets for collectors, national medals, American Eagle gold, silver and platinum bullion coins, and commemorative coins marking national events such as the Bicentennial of the Constitution. The Mint's functions include:
- Producing domestic, bullion and foreign coins;
- Manufacturing and selling national commemorative medals;
- Designing and producing the congressional gold medals;
- Designing, producing, and marketing special coinage;
- Safeguarding and controlling the movement of bullion;
- Disbursing gold and silver for authorized purposes;
- Distributing coins from the various mints to Federal Reserve Banks.
The Mint is not responsible for the production of American paper money; that is the responsibility of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.[29]
In 2000, the Mint was responsible for the production of 28 billion
The
The production and sale of circulating coinage and the other functions of the Mint are funded through the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, established in 1995. Any profits made by the Fund in excess of operating requirements are returned to the Treasury. Government procurement regulations do not apply to the Mint's procurement and contracting activity.[31]
Mintmarks
With the exception of a brief period in 1838 and 1839, all coins minted at U.S. branch mints prior to 1908 displayed that branch's mintmark on their reverse. Larger denominations of gold and silver coins were labeled with the Dahlonega, Charlotte, and New Orleans mintmarks (D, C, and O, respectively) on the obverse (front) side, just above the dates, in those two years. Carson City, which served as a U.S. branch mint from 1870 to 1893, produced coins with a CC mintmark.[32] The Manila Mint (the only overseas U.S. mint, which produced U.S. Territorial and U.S. Commonwealth coinage) used the M mintmark from 1920–1941.
Between 1965 and 1967, as the Mint labored to replace the silver coinage with base metal coins, mintmarks were temporarily dispensed with (including on the penny and nickel) in order to discourage the hoarding of coins by numismatists.[33] Mintmarks were moved to the obverse of the nickel, dime, quarter, and half dollar in 1968, and have appeared on the obverse of the dollar coin since its re-introduction in 1971.
- Penny: Unlike all other coins, which had their mintmarks on the reverse until 1964, the Lincoln cent has always had its mintmark on the obverse below the date to the right of Lincoln's bust since its 1909 introduction.
- Nickel: The mintmark was located near the rim of the obverse side, clockwise from the date from 1968 to 2005, to the right of Thomas Jefferson's bust. The redesigned obverse of the nickel which appeared starting in 2006 has its mintmark below the date on the lower right. Many earlier nickels from 1938 to 1964 are still in circulation, and their mintmarks can be found on the reverse to the right of Monticello, with the exception of the 1942–1945 war nickels cited elsewhere in this article.
- Dime: The mintmark is above the date on the obverse side to the right of Franklin D. Roosevelt's bust.
- Quarter dollar: The mintmark is to the right of George Washington's bust.
- Half dollar: The mintmark is below the center of John F. Kennedy's bust, above the date.
- Eisenhower Dollar (1971–1978): The mintmark is below the center of Dwight D. Eisenhower's bust, above the date.
- Susan B. Anthony dollar (1979–1981, 1999): The mintmark is found to the left of Susan B. Anthony's bust.
- Sacagawea dollar (2000–present): For coins minted from 2000 to 2008, the mintmark is just below the date. For coins minted since 2009, the date, mintmark and E Pluribus Unum were moved to the edge of the coin.[34]
- Presidential dollar (2007–2016): The mintmark and date are found on the edge of the coin.[35]
- American Innovation dollar (2018–present): The mintmark and date are found on the edge of the coin.[36]
Due to a shortage of nickel during World War II, the composition of the five-cent coin was changed to include silver. To mark this change, nickels minted in Philadelphia (which had featured no mintmarks until then) displayed a P in the field above the dome of Monticello. Nickels from San Francisco were minted in the same fashion, and Denver nickels reflected the change in 1943. This new mintmark location continued until 1946 when the nickel returned to its pre-war composition.[37]
The P mintmark, discontinued after the war, reappeared in 1979 on the Anthony dollar. By 1982, it had appeared on every other regular-issue coin except the cent, which, with the exception of 2017 Lincoln Cents, still bears no P mintmark. The circulating cents struck in the 1980s at San Francisco (except proofs) and West Point also bears no mintmark, as their facilities were used to supplement Philadelphia's production. Given the limited numbers produced at each facility, they might have been hoarded as collectibles.[38]
For 2017, in commemoration of the U.S Mint's 225th Anniversary, the P mintmark was placed on the obverse of Philadelphia-minted Lincoln cents for the first time in the coin's 100+ year history. The P mintmark did not re-appear for 2018 and subsequent circulation strikes minted in Philadelphia.[39]
See also
- American Arts Commemorative Series medallions
- Bullion coin
- Coins of the United States dollar
- Director of the United States Mint
- Early United States commemorative coins
- First Strike Coins
- Historical United States mints
- List of Federal Reserve branches
- Modern United States commemorative coins
- United States commemorative coin
- United States Mint coin sets
References
- ^ "United States Mint Law and Legal Definition | USLegal, Inc". definitions.uslegal.com. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
- ^ Journals of the Continental Congress, vol. 22, pp. 86-87
- ^ "The United States Mint · About Us". Usmint.gov. Archived from the original on 2010-11-29. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
- ^ "About: United States Mint". treasury.gov. Retrieved 2013-02-19.
- ^ Hain-Kararakis, Phaedon (2019-02-13). "U.S Mint Leadership | U.S. Mint". United States Mint. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
- ^ Taylor, Sol (5 January 2008). "Chief Engravers of the U.S. Mint, Part 1: 1793-1917". scvhistory.com.
- ^ "U.S. Mints: History of the US Mints". littletoncoin.com. Littleton Coin Company, Inc. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
- ^ "CHARLOTTE COMPLETE TYPE SET, CIRCULATION STRIKES (1838-1861)". PCGS.com. Collectors Universe, Inc. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
- ^ "The History of the Carson City Mint". usmint.gov. United States Mint. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- ^ "A Talk with Miss Margaret Kelly, Director of the U.S Mint" (PDF). The New York Times. 6 August 1911. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
- ^ Yeoman, R. S.; Bressett, Kenneth; Garrett, Jeff; Bowers, Q. David (2019). A Guide Book of United States Coins. Pelham, Alabama: Whitman Publishing.
- ^ Gilkes, Paul. "Collector Basics: The Dalles Mint never finished for U.S. Mint". coinworld.com. Amos Media Company. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- ^ Sherman, Mike. "What's that letter "P" doing on my cent?". PCGS.com. Collectors Universe, Inc. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
- ^ McMorrow-Hernandez, Joshua (21 December 2015). "Classic Proof Sets vs. Mint Sets: What's The Better Investment?". CoinWeek.com. CoinWeek, LLC. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
- ^ Unser, Darrin Lee (13 September 2013). "How the Philadelphia Mint Makes Hubs and Dies to Produce Coins". coinnews.net. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
- ^ a b "U.S. Mint Denver Facility". usmint.gov. United States Mint. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ^ "Coin Values". Coin World (November 2019): 106. November 2019.
- ^ "San Francisco Mint". usmint.gov. United States Mint. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- ^ McMorrow-Hernandez, Joshua (25 April 2017). "US Coins: 50 Years of Modern Proof Sets". coinweek.com. CoinWeek, LLC. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- ^ "First Production Strike of Susan B. Anthony Dollar Coin Announced by Mint Director Stella B. Hackel". usmint.gov. United States Mint. 16 February 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- ^ "Mint Marks". usmint.gov. United States Mint. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2019.; Schechter, Scott. "S Mint quarters from US Mint bring premiums". coinworld.com. Amos Media Company. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
- ^ a b c "West Point Mint". usmint.gov. United States Mint. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- ^ Sieber, Arlyn (2010). Warman's Modern US Coins Field Guide: Values and Identification. Penguin. p. 66.
- ^ "ROOSEVELT DIMES 1996 W 10C MS". ngccoin.com. Numismatic Guaranty Corporation. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- ^ "W Mint Mark Circulating Quarter Collectible | U.S. Mint". www.usmint.gov. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
- ^ "Fort Knox Bullion Depository". usmint.gov. United States Mint. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
- ^ "U.S. Treasury-Owned Gold | U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data". fiscaldata.treasury.gov. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
- ^ "United States Mint - Gold University - BullionStar". BullionStar Singapore. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
- ^ "Paper Currency". usmint.gov. United States Mint. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ "United States Mint Police Train To Protect People, Critical Assets". usmint.gov. United States Mint. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ 31 U.S. Code § 5136 - United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund Archived 2018-10-05 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 14 December 2018
- ^ Bowers, Q. David. "Collectors love coins bearing the Carson City Mint mark". coinworld.com. Amos Media Company. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
- ^ Lange, David W. "The "Anonymous" Coins of 1965-67". ngccoin.com. Numismatic Guaranty Corporation. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
- ^ Potter, Ken (28 April 2009). "No edge letter on Native American dollar". Numismatic News. F+W Media. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ Stump, Adam M. (13 June 2016). "San Francisco Mints Last Year of Presidential $1 Coins". usmint.gov. United States Mint. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ Unser, Mike (7 December 2018). "2018 American Innovation $1 Coin Images". coinnews.net. CoinNews Media Group LLC. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ "Jefferson Silver Nickel". coinnews.net. CoinNews Media Group LLC. 24 January 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ "Mint Marks". usmint.gov. United States Mint. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
- ^ McMorrow-Hernandez, Joshua (January 16, 2017). "Philadelphia Mint Quietly Releases 2017-P Lincoln Cent".