History of the US Mint at Carson City

Although legislation authorizing the creation of the US Mint at Carson City was passed by both houses of Congress on March 3, 1863, actual construction did not begin until three years later. Work proceeded so slowly that three more years passed before coining machinery arrived.

Manufactured by Morgan & Orr in Philadelphia, who created many of the steam-powered coining presses then in use throughout the world, the first six-ton press arrived at the Carson Mint in 1869. As was the custom of the day, it was painted with a large "1" to signify the first press located in the coiner's department.

On February 11, 1870, this press struck the first coin bearing the soon-to-be-famous CC mintmark, a Seated Liberty dollar.

For nearly a quarter of a century it was used to strike most of the larger denomination pieces produced during the years the mint actually produced coins, from 1870 to 1885 and again from 1889 to 1893.

When the press suffered a cracked arch in 1878, it was repaired at the local shop of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. Proud of their, handiwork, V&T machinists replaced the original brass Morgan & Orr plate with one bearing the name of their famous railroad.

The Carson City Mint ceased coining operations in 1893 and the presses were removed in 1899, along with all other machinery in the coiner's department. Press No. 1 was moved to the Philadelphia Mint, where it was remodeled in 1930 to operate with electric power. in 1945, it was transferred to the "new" San Francisco Mint and renumbered "5" to correspond with its place in the coining department there. Finally, when all coin production was temporarily halted at San Francisco in 1955, the old press was due to be scrapped.

Through the efforts of Judge Clark J. Guild and other local businessmen, the antique press was purchased by the state of Nevada for $225 and arrived back in Carson City in 1958. After a thorough cleaning and painting, it quickly became one of the favorite attractions in the Nevada State Museum, now housed in the original mint building.

However, when US Mint Director Eva Adams, who was herself a native Nevadan, was faced with a severe coin shortage in 1964, she requested the loan of the venerable press. It was soon trucked to the Denver Mint and placed in operation, striking more than 188 million coins during the next three years.

Once again returned to the Carson City museum in 1967, press No. 1 was converted to a much slower electric drive. In 1976, it was used to strike Nevada Bicentennial medals in gold, silver, copper and bronze, and in following years created some of the medalic pieces in a lengthy series produced by the Nevada State Museum.

Don Schmitz, owner of the Nevada City Mint in California, began operating  the press for the state of Nevada on a limited basis from 1977 to 2001.  Coin Press No. 1 is currently being operated and maintained by museum volunteers Ken and Karen Hopple of Reno for the State Museum.  Under their supervision, the press is minting the last Friday of each month.

Since Morgan & Orr  presses manufactured in the 1860s and 1870s are harder to find all the time, Carson City’s press No. 1 may well be one of the last operating presses from that time period.

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Carson City Mint

By Wikipedia

The Carson City Mint was a branch of the United States Mint in Carson City, Nevada. Built at the peak of the silver boom, 50 issues of silver coins and 57 issues of gold coins minted here between 1870 and 1893 bore the "CC" mint mark. The mint was established in Carson City to facilitate minting of silver coins from silver in the Comstock Lode, somewhat like how the San Francisco Mint was established to facilitate minting gold coins from the gold of the California gold rush. From 1895 to 1933, the building served as the U.S. Assay Office for gold and silver. The Federal Government sold the building to the state of Nevada in 1939. Coins struck there are generally rare and have a high premium, especially Morgan Dollars that were struck there.

The building that housed the mint was the first designed by Alfred B. Mullett after he became Supervising Architect of the Department of the Treasury. The construction supervisor was Abraham Curry, also known as the "Father of Carson City." The simple Renaissance Revival style stone facade has pairs of round-headed windows and a center portico. It is now the home of the Nevada State Museum.

The Carson City Mint struck coins in the following denominations:

Silver Denominations

Dime (1871-1878)

Twenty-Cent Piece (1875-1876)

Quarter Dollar (1870-1878)

Half Dollar (1870-1878)

Dollar (1870-1885 and 1889-1893)

Gold Denominations

Half Eagle or $5.00 Gold (1870-1884 and 1890-1893)

Eagle or $10.00 Gold (1870-1884 and 1890-1893)

Double Eagle or $20.00 Gold (1870-1885 and 1889-1893)

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By:  http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/nevada/usm.htm

The Carson City Mint was designed by Alfred Mullett, newly-appointed supervising architect for the U.S. Treasury Department. The Mint shows Mullett's early fascination with the Classical tradition, a style that predominated in the great post-Civil War building programs. In the Carson City Mint, Mullett combined both Greek and Classical traditions, adding an Italian Villa cupola. Most of the original building remains intact, and all materials for the Mint are native to Nevada. The sandstone was quarried at the State Prison, the brick was manufactured at the Adams Brick Works in Genoa (operated by John Quincy Adams' grandsons) and the interior wainscoting was milled from Tahoe sugar pine. The Carson City U.S. Mint's formal mint status was withdrawn in 1899, due to the drastic decline in mining on the Comstock. Afterward it served as an assay office. The Mint was remodeled to serve as the Nevada State Museum in 1941. Today the Mint's Press No. 1 resides at the museum.

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