United States Mint – history of the mint

The national United States Mint was established under the Coinage Act in 1792. The document passed by the US Congress regulated the production of gold, silver and copper coins. The building of the first mint was located in the then capital of the country – Philadelphia.

When the gold rush began in the 19th century, the Philadelphia mint proved insufficiently efficient. Therefore, Congress decided to establish additional branches in Charlotte, Dahloneda and New Orleans. In 1836, steam engines appeared at the mints, which helped increase the number of coins minted. Other branches of the national mint were established in San Francisco and Denver. In 1866 the inscription “In God We Trust” appeared on coins, and in 1892 the mint issued the first commemorative coin. After World War II, the minting of silver and gold circulation coins was abandoned, replacing these bullions with zinc and copper alloy.

United States Mint today

The United States Mint today is an entity under the United States Department of the Treasury. It is responsible for the production of domestic circulation coins and supplies them to Federal Reserve banks. In addition, it mints collector coins, bullion coins and medals.

United States Mint regularly releases commemorative coins. The 2024 is a series commemorating Harriet Tubman. Other collector coins available include the series:

• America the Beautiful Quarters®,
• American Buffalo,
• American Eagle,
• American Liberty,
• American Women Quarters™,
• Native American one-dollar coins.

Also very popular are series with U.S. presidents and medals referencing U.S. history. A special category of United States Mint products are military medals, commemorating military veterans.