West Point Mint
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US Bullion Depository, West Point, New York
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Mint building from US 9W, 2008
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| Location | West Point, NY |
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| Nearest city | Peekskill |
| Coordinates | 41°23′47″N 73°58′56″W / 41.39639°N 73.98222°WCoordinates: 41°23′47″N 73°58′56″W / 41.39639°N 73.98222°W |
| Area | 4 acres (1.6 ha) |
| Built | 1937 |
| Architect | Louis A. Simon |
| NRHP Reference # | 88000027 |
| Added to NRHP | 1988 |
The West Point Mint Facility was erected in 1937 near the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, United States. Originally it was called the West Point Bullion Depository. At one point it had the highest concentration of silver of any U.S. mint facility, and for 12 years produced circulating pennies. It has since minted mostly commemorative coins, and stores gold.
It gained official status as a branch of the United States Mint on March 31, 1988. Later that year it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Prior to its remodel in 2005 that added a second-story, the mint was a 170-by-256-foot (52 by 78 m) one-story reinforced concrete structure with a flat roof. The walls are mostly featureless with some recessed-arches at the entryways. There are four turrets at the corners actively used in the building's security. It is on a four-acre (1.6 ha) parcel of land near the northern facilities of the United States Military Academy, with parking lots on either side. The interior contains minting presses and bullion compartments.
As of 1937, it served as a storage facility for silver bullion and was thus nicknamed "The Fort Knox of Silver." Even without United States Mint status, it produced U.S. coinage. From 1974 through 1986, the West Point Mint produced Lincoln cents bearing no mint mark, making them indistinguishable from those produced at the Philadelphia Mint. The years 1977 to 1979 saw Bicentennial quarters and Washington quarters produced as well. Approximately 20 billion dollars' worth of gold was stored in its vaults in the early 1980s (although this was still significantly less than at Fort Knox).
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