potrero view

July 2009

Old Mint Has New Currency

By Jim Van Buskirk

There’s still money in the Old Mint.  On May 25, 1870, during its construction, a ceremonial cornerstone was laid in the Mint’s northeast corner.  One of each denomination of the several coins struck at the previous San Francisco Mint was placed inside.  Unfortunately, no records remain as to exactly which stone contains the coins, which are now quite valuable, historically and monetarily. An attempt to find the buried treasure was made in the 1970s; the search will continue when construction begins on the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society’s (SFMHS) Mint Project.

The Old Mint, which sits majestically at the corner of Mission and Fifth streets, is San Francisco’s second mint, the first having opened on Commercial Street near Montgomery in 1854.  The Old Mint served as a coining facility from 1874 to 1937, when it was succeeded by the New Mint, at 155 Hermann Street, now used exclusively for proof coinage.

SFMHS curator Kristin Morris regularly leads SFMHS members through the abandoned facility.  Recently Morris walked a tour group through the Press Room, where money was printed; the Safe Room, site of two original vaults; and the basement, where additional vaults were later installed.  Morris explained that the entire building slid southward three feet during the 1906 earthquake.

The Old Mint was designed by Alfred B. Mullett, Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department from 1866 to 1874, and best known for designing the Old Executive Office Building in Washington, DC. The Old Mint’s classical architecture, one of the last and best of the Federal Greek Revival style, is built around a completely enclosed central courtyard that covers a cistern. These features helped save the building during the 1906 fire, when heat from nearby burning buildings melted the metal window coverings and the plate glass windows. Dedicated efforts by Superintendent of the Mint, Frank Leach, and his men preserved the building, along with one-third of the country’s gold reserves in bullion, and most of the City’s cash.

Although affectionately referred to as “the Granite Lady” by local historians, only the building’s base and basement are granite; the edifice is mostly sandstone.  Its thick walls were designed to thwart tunneling into its vaults, and its mostly metal construction protects it from theft and fire. Both a California and a National Historic Landmark, the edifice has no leaks or seismic issues, but needs updated electrical, telecommunications wiring, and temperature control systems.

The Mint Project Capital Campaign hopes to raise $47 million, about half of the project’s total estimated cost.  The majority of the Mint’s 100,000 square feet will be used as exhibition space, with permanent exhibits on the first floor and changing exhibitions on the second.  When the museum is completed in 2013 it will feature a café, wine bar, store, and a revitalized visitor’s center, relocated from Hallidie Plaza.    Whether or not the cornerstone is ever found, there are riches at the Mint, according to the Project’s tagline:  “The Mint used to be a place where the wealth of the nation was stored.  Now it will become a depository of the region’s treasured stories…an even greater wealth.”

See www.themintproject.org for more information.

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