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Old Mint
By HANK PELLESSIER
Built in 1874, the indestructible Granite Lady at Mission and Fifth fought off staggering earthquakes and scorching infernos in its time. While money production and storage ceased in 1937, plans are afoot to make the structure a museum dedicated to the history of San Francisco.
despite the above photo, and its floating foundation, the Mint is not pitching forward....
Big and Busy
The 100,000-square-foot Old Mint encloses a huge courtyard that provides abundant sunlight to its offices, chambers and factories. Up to 200 employees once worked there around the clock, primarily in the production of coins.
Wealth of a Nation
By 1880, the Old Mint was producing 60 percent of the nation’s silver and gold coins and contained about one-third of the United States’ gold reserves — $300 million, or $6 billion adjusted for inflation.
Cooking for Carats
Raw gold at the mint was melted and refined to remove impurities. Then, it was poured into a mold to produce a shape that was placed on a roller. “Blanks” were then cut out with a machine and stamped on the presses.
Access Denied
Gold and silver bars and ingots were generally kept in the basement’s brick vaults. Bags of silver dollars were typically held in the even-more-secure steel-lined vaults. Each vault was protected by two sets of metal doors secured with combination locks with codes known to only two or three employees.
Guarding the Treasure
The Old Mint was a fortress with 24-hour armed security. It sits on a huge concrete-and-granite foundation and its brick walls are two-and-one-half-feet thick. Workers counted hundreds of bags of coins twice daily.
Chaos Control
After the 1906 earthquake, Gen. Frederick Funston, commander of the Presidio, feared that criminal gangs from the Barbary Coast would exploit the city’s anarchy by looting the Old Mint. He sent 10 soldiers to protect the building, which was undamaged by the quake, due to reinforced masonry and a floating foundation.
White-Collar Crime
Thieves never ransacked the Old Mint, but there were occasional inside jobs. After fixing the books, a senior clerk is said to have walked out with two bags of silver, worth $30,000, in 1901.
Paying for Itself
San Francisco bought the Old Mint from the federal government in 2003 for one dollar — a silver coin pressed here in 1879. The San Francisco Museum and Historical Society offers rooms for day-use rental.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/us...anciscobayarea
By HANK PELLESSIER
Built in 1874, the indestructible Granite Lady at Mission and Fifth fought off staggering earthquakes and scorching infernos in its time. While money production and storage ceased in 1937, plans are afoot to make the structure a museum dedicated to the history of San Francisco.
despite the above photo, and its floating foundation, the Mint is not pitching forward....
Big and Busy
The 100,000-square-foot Old Mint encloses a huge courtyard that provides abundant sunlight to its offices, chambers and factories. Up to 200 employees once worked there around the clock, primarily in the production of coins.
Wealth of a Nation
By 1880, the Old Mint was producing 60 percent of the nation’s silver and gold coins and contained about one-third of the United States’ gold reserves — $300 million, or $6 billion adjusted for inflation.
Cooking for Carats
Raw gold at the mint was melted and refined to remove impurities. Then, it was poured into a mold to produce a shape that was placed on a roller. “Blanks” were then cut out with a machine and stamped on the presses.
Access Denied
Gold and silver bars and ingots were generally kept in the basement’s brick vaults. Bags of silver dollars were typically held in the even-more-secure steel-lined vaults. Each vault was protected by two sets of metal doors secured with combination locks with codes known to only two or three employees.
Guarding the Treasure
The Old Mint was a fortress with 24-hour armed security. It sits on a huge concrete-and-granite foundation and its brick walls are two-and-one-half-feet thick. Workers counted hundreds of bags of coins twice daily.
Chaos Control
After the 1906 earthquake, Gen. Frederick Funston, commander of the Presidio, feared that criminal gangs from the Barbary Coast would exploit the city’s anarchy by looting the Old Mint. He sent 10 soldiers to protect the building, which was undamaged by the quake, due to reinforced masonry and a floating foundation.
White-Collar Crime
Thieves never ransacked the Old Mint, but there were occasional inside jobs. After fixing the books, a senior clerk is said to have walked out with two bags of silver, worth $30,000, in 1901.
Paying for Itself
San Francisco bought the Old Mint from the federal government in 2003 for one dollar — a silver coin pressed here in 1879. The San Francisco Museum and Historical Society offers rooms for day-use rental.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/us...anciscobayarea