The Charlotte Mint was the first United States branch mint. It was located in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most popu ...

and specialized in gold coinage.

History

Following the first documented discovery of gold in the United States, the country's first gold mine was established in North Carolina at the Reed Gold Mine. As no mints existed in the Charlotte area, miners had to send their gold dust to Philadelphia to be melted and coined. The transportation process was difficult, slow, expensive, and dangerous; frustration with this system led to the creation of private gold coining operations in the Charlotte area. However, making gold into local money had its own inherent problems, such as accurate weighing and determining fineness. In the spring of 1831, North Carolina merchants and miners petitioned Congress for a branch mint in the Charlotte region to reduce the risk of transporting gold. They received no response until three years later when the United States Treasury began to investigate private coining operations and recognized North Carolina's need for more federal coinage. On March 3, 1835, the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

approved an Act 115 to 60 to establish several

branch mint A branch mint is a satellite operation of (usually) a national mint. In many cases it will add a mint mark to coins that is different from that used at the main facility, although each country has different rules that may vary over time. Added let ...

s; the act stated, "...one branch o be establishedat the town of

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, in Mecklenburg County, in the state of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

, for the coinage of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

only...And for the purpose of purchasing sites, erecting suitable buildings, and completing the necessary combinations of machinery...for the branch at Charlotte, fifty thousand dollars". This Act also authorized mints at

Dahlonega, Georgia The city of Dahlonega () is the county seat of Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,242, and in 2018 the population was estimated to be 6,884. Dahlonega is located at the north end of ...

, and

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, after President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

signed it into law.

Production

In November, 1835, Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Treasury, was notified by Samuel MeComb that he had purchased from William Carson and F. L. Smith a full square containing 4 acres of land for $1,500.00, which is now the 400 block of West Trade Street. Proposals for erection of the building were advertised and the contract was awarded to Perry & Ligon, of Raleigh, NC on October 15, 1835 at a price of $29,800.00. In 1836, construction on the Charlotte Mint began. It opened for business on July 27, 1837. Only raw gold was processed and refined until March 28, 1838, when the first $5 gold

half eagle The half eagle is a United States coin that was produced for circulation from 1795 to 1929 and in commemorative and bullion coins since 1983. Composed almost entirely of gold, its face value of five dollars is half that of the eagle coin. Prod ...

was struck in Charlotte. Later that year, $2½

quarter eagle The quarter eagle was a gold coin issued by the United States with a value of two hundred and fifty cents, or two dollars and fifty cents. It was given its name in the Coinage Act of 1792, as a derivation from the US ten-dollar eagle coin. His ...

s were minted, and 1849 production started on a small

gold dollar The gold dollar or gold one-dollar piece is a gold coin that was struck as a regular issue by the United States Bureau of the Mint from 1849 to 1889. The coin had three types over its lifetime, all designed by Mint Chief Engraver James B. Long ...

. All gold coinage coming from this mint has a "C"

mint mark A mint mark is a letter, symbol or an inscription on a coin indicating the mint where the coin was produced. It should not be confused with a mintmaster mark which is the mark of the mintmaster. History Mint marks were first developed to locate ...

to distinguish it from other sister mints then in operation. The Charlotte Mint issued over $5 million in gold coins over the course of nine years – 1849-55, 1857, and 1859. Coins produced in 1850, '52, '55, and '59 are considered rare or very rare, and 1854 coins are nearly unattainable as only four pieces were coined.

War

In May 1861,

seceded from the Union. The Confederacy seized the Charlotte Mint along with those at New Orleans and

Dahlonega The city of Dahlonega () is the county seat of Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,242, and in 2018 the population was estimated to be 6,884. Dahlonega is located at the north end of ...

.The Confederate government continued coining operations until October when it became clear it was a futile effort. The mint was then converted into a hospital and military office space for the remainder of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

After the war

Federal troops used the offices for the first few years of

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology * Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

. In 1867, the U.S. government downgraded it to an

assay office Assay offices are institutions set up to assay (test the purity of) precious metals. This is often done to protect consumers from buying fake items. Upon successful completion of an assay (i.e. if the metallurgical content is found be equal or bett ...

due to a shortage of gold dust. In 1873, the

General Assembly of North Carolina The North Carolina General Assembly is the bicameral legislature of the State government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets in the North Carolina ...

petitioned Congress to reopen the mint at Charlotte. This request was denied. The Assay office operated until 1913. From 1917 to 1919, the Charlotte Women's Club met in the building. It also served as a

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

station during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Museum

In 1931, the building was to be demolished to make room for the

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...

expansion next door. A coalition of private citizens acquired the structure from the U.S. Treasury Department in 1933. They relocated the structure a few miles east of downtown Charlotte, to the historic neighborhood of Eastover on a plot of land donated by E.C. Griffith. In 1936, it was dedicated as the

Mint Museum of Art The Mint Museum, also referred to as The Mint Museums, is a cultural institution comprising two museums, located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Mint Museum Randolph and Mint Museum Uptown, together these two locations have hundreds of collection ...

, the first art museum in North Carolina. On display are thousands of items, along with a complete collection of all gold coins minted at the Charlotte Mint. The museum also includes a reference library with over 15,000 volumes and a theater featuring lectures and performances. Charlotte Mint gold coins range from scarce to extremely rare. They are some of the most desired items in

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inc ...

today.

Footnotes

External links

U.S. Mint
{{Charlotte, North Carolina United States Mint Mints of the United States

Mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAE ...

North Carolina in the American Civil War Economy of Charlotte, North Carolina Manufacturing plants in the United States 1835 establishments in North Carolina 1861 disestablishments in North Carolina