Denver Mint
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Denver Mint
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The Denver Mint
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| Location | West Colfax Avenue and Delaware Street, Denver, Colorado |
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| Coordinates | 39°44′23″N 104°59′30.17″W / 39.73972°N 104.9917139°WCoordinates: 39°44′23″N 104°59′30.17″W / 39.73972°N 104.9917139°W |
| Built | 1897 |
| Architect | James Knox Taylor |
| Architectural style | Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals, Other |
| NRHP Reference # | 72000270 |
| CSRHP # | 5DV.164 |
| Added to NRHP | February 1, 1972 |
The Denver Mint is a branch of the United States Mint that struck its first coins on February 1, 1906. The mint is still operating and producing coins for circulation, as well as mint sets and commemorative coins. Coins produced at the Denver Mint bear a D mint mark (not to be confused with the mark of the Dahlonega Mint). The Denver Mint is the single largest producer of coins in the world.
The predecessors of the Denver Mint were the men of Clark, Gruber and Company. During the Pikes Peak Gold Rush, they coined gold dust brought from the gold fields by the miners. In 1858, Austin M. Clark, Milton E. Clark and Emanuel Henry Gruber founded a brokerage firm in Leavenworth, Kansas, and then established an office in Denver at the beginning of the Colorado Gold Rush. Desiring to save on shipping and insurance costs associated with shipping gold back east, the firm opened a private mint. On 25 July 1860, the mint opened in a two story brick building on the corner of Market and 16th Streets, minting $10 gold pieces at the rate of "fifteen or twenty coins a minute". "On the face is a representation of the peak, its base surrounded by a forest of timber and 'Pikes Peak Gold' encircling the summit. Immediately under its base is the word 'Denver', and beneath it 'Ten D.'. On the reverse is the American Eagle encircled by the name of the firm 'Clark, Gruber & Co.', and beneath the date, '1860'.
A $20 gold coin was added, "the weight will be greater, but the value the same as the United States coin of like denomination". A $5 and a $2.5 gold coin were added, with production reaching $18,000 per week. On the front was the "head of the Goddess of Liberty surrounded by thirteen stars, with 'Clark & Company' in the tiara. "Pikes's Peak Gold, Denver" was on the other side, with "5D." or "2 1/2 D."
In the almost three years of operation, they minted $594,305 worth of Pike's Peak Gold in the form of gold coins. Additionally, they purchased 77,000 troy ounces of raw gold, and shipped "large amounts of dust" to the Philadelphia Mint. The building, assaying and minting equipment was formally bought by the US Treasury in April 1863. Clark, Gruber & Co. remained a bank until bought by the First National Bank of Denver in 1865.
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