OpenStreetMap (new tab)

Google Map (new tab)

Google Streetview (new tab)

Building History

Construction began on this mint, 05/26/1870 and ended in 1874; the building, one of most secure on the West Coast at the time, cost a staggering $2,000,000 to erect; this cost went to securing the cavernous vaults that served as the gold bullion depository for the Western United States; it served as a working mint until 1937, when its functions were transferred to a new mint on Market Street; this second facility produced a high proportion of the gold coins minted in the U.S., and also transformed a significant amount of the silver excavated from Nevada's Comstock Lode into coinage after 1873; its venerable Greek Revival Style exterior recalled earlier Neo-Classical banks built in the U.S., and would anticipate the many that would be built until the 1930s; nothing said permanence and stability to the public like a Greek Revival facade;

Building Notes

The San Francisco Mint #2 was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1961 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988; National Register ID Number: 66000231; GSA Building Number: CA0095ZZ.

In 1966, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) passed a resolution at its 98th Annual Convention in Denver, CO, calling on Mayor John F. Shelley (1905-1975) of San Francisco to restore and preserve the Mint.

The eastern portion of the mint was remodeled into a museum in 1972; the west side continued to house U.S. Treasury Offices in 2005;