Dumb Question From A New Guy!

Two things:

1. Welcome to the board.

2. There are no stupid questions, we learned these things somewhere in time and passing on the knowledge is what this board is for. Besides, if you do not ask, you will never know.

to CCF
That is correct the S stands for San Francisco mint
There are currently three mints in the US
San Francisco -> S
Denver -> D
Philadelphia -> P or nothing
West Point -> none (they do gold coins there)

There have been other mints in the past.
These are no longer in production
Carson City -> CC
New Orleans -> O
Charlotte -> C
Dahlonega -> D

Thanks wwhitman!!
I only collect Canadian so my U.S knowledge is limited, I just gave it a shot. Do you happen to know if the buildings where those redundant facilities still exist? Are some of the associated with Confederate money, or Civil war tokens? Can you still tour them?
Check out this same subject from the U.S mints web site (link below), and look at bullet point #8.Whats up with the 'W'?
http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_min...on=fun_facts

For the silver, gold and platinum American Eagles, West Point currently does the "burnished" proof eagles. Philly does the uncirculated eagles

West Point did all of the gold American Buffalos, and some of the commemorative golds (both unc. and proofs).

I do not know which mint does the presidential gold spouse series.

I may be wrong,but I believe the old mints no longer exist

All bullion coins are currently minted at West Point(with and without mint marks), Philly last did the Eagles in 2000.


The first branch mint, New Orleans, still exists. It is currently the Louisiana State Museum and was extensively rehabbed after Katrina ripped off the roof. There is an exhibit pertaining to the Mint operations along with a numismatic collection on loan from a couple New Orleans specialized collectors. One of them, Lynn Ourso, has a write-up of the Mint history on his website(he is also a very good dealer whom I have done business with on a few occasions). The New Orleans Mint operated under Louisiana control after the state seceded and then briefly under Confederate control until the silver stockpiles ran out. Only about 1/4 of the total mintage of the 1861-O half dollars was done under Federal control, the rest were Louisiana and CSA issues using the Federal dies. The only CSA coins ever produced(essentially patterns) were produced at the New Orleans Mint.

The other two southern branch Mints, Charlotte and Dahlonega, were permanently closed by the Civil War. Both of them briefly produced coins for the CSA until the gold also ran out. Dahlonega was destroyed by a fire in 1878 and Charlotte was dismantled and relocated in 1936 when the structure was scheduled to be demolished. It currently operates as the Mint Museum of Art and I could find no mention of a numismatic collection on its website but Wikipedia states that it has a complete collection of Charlotte gold so I am not sure

The Carson City Mint currently houses the Nevada State Museum and it does have a numismatic collection, including one of the original coin presses.

The original San Fransisco Mint, aka The Granite Lady(affectionately named because it was one of the few structures to survive the 1906 earthquake and it was key to restoring the financial viability of the city) is not currently open to the public. In 2006, a commemorative silver dollar was issued with a surcharge going towards a restoration fund for the Mint. It will eventually be converted into a California history museum complete with numismatic exhibits. The current San Fran Mint, built in 1968, is not open to the public.

The Denver Mint is the original building that opened in 1906 and tours are available.

Philadelphia has had four mints in its history and only the two most recent buildings still stand with the current one open for tours as well.

Finally, the eighth mint, West Point, is not open to the public and is a Fort Knox-like structure.

Technically, there is also a ninth mint although most collectors would be hard pressed to name it. The Manila Mint in the Philippines operated as a branch mint from 1920-1941 when the islands were a US territory. WWII effectively ended its tenure as a branch mint and of course, the Philippines were given their independence in 1946 so the mint was then operated under the auspices of the new government.

The "Granite Lady" is not the original San Francisco Mint, it was the second S mint, the cornerstone being laid in 1870 and it opened in 1874. The original S mit was a small building just 60 feet square located on Commerce Street. I don't believe it exists anymore.

Then there is the US Mint that very few collectors know about. The US Mint at The Dalles Oregon. The mint was authorized, funds for its construction were appropriated, the Mint was built, and then they decided they didn't need it after all and it never opened. The Dalles Mint building is stil standing.