New Orleans Mint facts for kids
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United States Mint, New Orleans Branch
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A postcard dated July 12, 1907, showing the New Orleans Mint during its last few years of operation as a branch mint facility
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 Location in East New Orleans
Location in Louisiana
Location in the United States
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| Location | New Orleans Louisiana, U.S. |
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| Built | 1835 |
| Architect | William Strickland |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 73000875 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | March 30, 1973 |
| Designated NHL | May 15, 1975 |
The New Orleans Mint (in French, Monnaie de La Nouvelle-Orléans) was a special factory in New Orleans, Louisiana. It made coins for the United States Mint from 1838 to 1861 and again from 1879 to 1909. During these years, it produced over 427 million gold and silver coins. These coins included almost every type of American money made at the time. The total value of these coins was more than US$307 million. The Mint was closed for a long time during the American Civil War and the period after it, known as Reconstruction.
After it stopped making coins, the building was used for different things. It was an assay office (where metals are tested for purity), a storage place for the United States Coast Guard, and even a fallout shelter during the Cold War.
Since 1981, the building has been part of the Louisiana State Museum. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina damaged the building. After two years of repairs, the museum reopened in October 2007.
Today, the museum has exhibits about New Orleans' famous jazz musicians, with their instruments, photos, and posters. This is now part of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. The building also hosts live jazz concerts, working with the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park.
The Louisiana Historical Center is on the third floor. It holds old papers and maps from when Louisiana was a French and Spanish colony. It also has many other materials about Louisiana's history and culture. Anyone interested in the state's past can visit.
The New Orleans Mint is a National Historic Landmark. It is the oldest building still standing that was once a U.S. Mint. It is also one of only two former mints in the U.S. that now has an art gallery. The other is the Charlotte Mint.
Contents
History of the New Orleans Mint
Early Years: 1835–1861
Why a Mint in New Orleans?
In the 1830s, the United States had a problem: there weren't enough American coins. People often used foreign coins instead. In 1832, President Andrew Jackson stopped the Second Bank of the United States. He felt this bank helped rich business owners in the Northeast too much. He thought it hurt ordinary people in the South and West.
Then, in 1836, President Jackson made a rule called the Specie Circular. This rule said that all land deals in the U.S. had to be paid for with gold or silver coins. These actions, plus an economic downturn in 1837, meant the country needed a lot more coins.
So, in 1835, the U.S. government decided to build three new mints. The Charlotte Mint in North Carolina and the Dahlonega Mint in Georgia were in gold mining areas. They only made gold coins. New Orleans was chosen because it was a very important city for trade. It was on the Mississippi River, a major route for shipping cotton. Also, a lot of gold from Mexico passed through its port.
In the early 1800s, New Orleans was the fifth-largest city in the U.S. It did more foreign trade than any other city. It was also close to new gold discoveries in Alabama. The main Philadelphia Mint made many coins, but it was hard to send them quickly to the South and West. Unlike the other two Southern mints, the New Orleans Mint made both gold and silver coins. It produced much more money, making it the most important branch mint until the San Francisco Mint opened in the 1850s.
The Mint building is in a special spot in New Orleans. It is at one of the two corners of the French Quarter that face the Mississippi River. This area was once a fort called Fort San Carlos, built by the Spanish in 1792. The fort was torn down in 1821. The nearby area was later named Jackson Square. This honored Andrew Jackson, who saved the city from British forces in the War of 1812 at the Battle of New Orleans.
Building the Mint
The Mint building is made of red brick. It was designed by architect William Strickland. He used the Greek Revival style, which was popular for public buildings in the 1800s. Strickland had also designed the Philadelphia Mint and other important buildings.
The front of the Mint has a large entrance with four tall columns. This entrance leads to the main part of the building. On each side, there are two large wings with many windows. These wings wrap around the main part, making the building look like a "W" shape from above. There are two square courtyards in the back. Balconies with iron railings decorate the back of the building.
Inside, a grand staircase connects the three floors right behind the main entrance. The floors are supported by strong arches made of clay bricks and steel beams. Many large rooms on the second floor, where coins were made, have beautiful high arched ceilings. Smaller rooms also have arched ceilings. The basement once held boilers, but now it has museum exhibits about how coins were made. There is also a coin shop there.
Fixing the Building
New Orleans is built on swampy land with a high water table. This caused problems for the Mint's foundation. In the 1840s, iron rods were added to make the building stronger. In 1854, the government hired Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, an engineer from Louisiana, to make the building fireproof. He also rebuilt the basement arches and added stone floors. Beauregard finished the work by 1859. During this time, the Mint's machines were changed to run on steam power. A tall smokestack was built at the back to let out the smoke.
Less than two years later, Beauregard became famous. He was a Confederate general who ordered the attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861. This event started the American Civil War.
Making Coins
The New Orleans Mint started making coins on March 8, 1838. The first coins were 30 dimes, made on May 7. Until the Confederacy took over in 1861, the Mint made many different types of silver and gold coins. These included three-cent pieces, half dimes, dimes, quarters, half dollars, silver dollars, gold dollars, $2.50 quarter eagles, three-dollar pieces, $5 half-eagles, $10 eagles, and $20 double eagles.
Many interesting people worked at the Mint. One was John Leonard Riddell, who worked there from 1839 to 1848. He was a scientist who invented the binocular microscope. He also wrote books and articles about coins.
The New Orleans Mint was often shown in magazines and newspapers in the 1800s.
Civil War and Reopening: 1861–1879
The Mint During the Civil War
The New Orleans Mint made coins steadily until January 26, 1861. On that day, Louisiana left the United States. On February 5, 1861, a report showed that the Mint had over $483,000 in gold and silver coins.
In March 1861, Louisiana joined the Confederacy. The Confederate government took over the Mint and used it to make their own coins. They made 962,633 of the 2,532,633 half-dollar coins dated 1861. Some of these 1861 half-dollars have special marks that show they were made by the Confederacy. Confederate officials also designed their own half-dollars with a different back side. Only four of these are known to exist today. One of them belonged to Jefferson Davis, the only President of the Confederacy.
Confederate coin making continued from April 1 until they ran out of gold and silver later that month. The Mint staff stayed until May 31, 1861. After that, the building was used to house Confederate soldiers. The Union forces, led by Admiral David Farragut, took back New Orleans and the Mint in 1862.
Union Occupation
For many people in the South, the Mint became a symbol of their anger towards the Union. In April 1862, U.S. Marines raised the American flag on the Mint's roof. A man named William Bruce Mumford climbed onto the roof and tore the flag down. He ripped it into pieces and kept them as souvenirs. The Union military governor of New Orleans, General Benjamin Franklin Butler, arrested Mumford. Butler ordered Mumford to be executed for treason. This event was big news across the country. Jefferson Davis even demanded that Butler be executed if captured.
The Mint reopened as an assay office in 1876. Its machines were damaged during the war. But because the Mint was so important, new equipment was sent to New Orleans in 1877. The building was fixed up and started making coins again in 1879. It mainly produced silver coins, including the famous Morgan silver dollar from 1879 to 1904.
A Second Chance: 1879–1909
New Orleans Coins
The New Orleans Mint was reopened partly because the U.S. government passed the Bland–Allison Act in 1878. This law required the government to buy and coin a lot of silver each year. The Treasury Department needed more places to do this. So, they reopened the New Orleans facility mainly to make many silver dollars. Most of these coins were stored in the building instead of being used.
During this second period, the Mint also made dimes, quarters, half dollars, $5 half eagles, and $10 eagles. In 1879, it also made 2,325 double eagles. In 1907, the New Orleans Mint even made over five and a half million silver twenty-centavo pieces for the Mexican government.
Coins from the New Orleans Mint have an "O" mint mark on their back side. These coins were known for not being as shiny or as sharply made as coins from other mints. Because of this, New Orleans coins that are well-made are very valuable to coin collectors today.
Life at the Mint
Most of the workers at the Mint were men. They had jobs like coiners, melters, pressers, and rollers. A superintendent, always a man, was in charge. This person was chosen for political reasons and usually stayed in the job as long as their political party was in power.
However, during this second period, women also started working at the New Orleans Mint. Some women from the Philadelphia Mint came to teach the New Orleans workers how to adjust money. About 44 women worked at the Mint. Thirty-nine of them were "adjusters." They weighed the blank coin pieces to make sure they were the correct weight before being stamped. These women would sit at long tables, filing the pieces down to the right weight. They wore special aprons to catch the metal dust. Five women counted and packed the coins before they were shipped. Some women eventually worked the coining presses.
The women worked from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily. The hours were not long, but the working conditions were tough. New Orleans is hot and humid. Adjusting coins needed great care, and even a small breeze could affect the scales. It could also blow away the silver dust. So, the windows and doors were usually kept closed, making the work area very hot. Workers used water coolers to stay cool and hydrated. Even with these challenges, women mint employees were thought to have better working conditions than many other American women workers in the late 1800s.
The Mint in the 20th and 21st Centuries
The Mint Closes
By the early 1900s, the U.S. Treasury had mints in New Orleans, Denver, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. These were more than enough to make all the coins needed. In 1904, the government stopped making silver dollars, which were most of what the New Orleans Mint produced. In 1909, the Treasury stopped giving money for the Mint to operate. This ended coin making in New Orleans. In 1911, the New Orleans Mint was officially closed, and its machines were sent to the Philadelphia Mint.
In 1930, Louisiana Governor Huey Long complained about the Mint's closure when he ran for U.S. Senator. He listed it as a major problem caused by the sitting senator. Long won the election. Sadly, the original New Orleans Mint machinery was lost at some point and has not been found.
A New Life for the Building
After closing as a mint, the building served different roles for the government. First, it became an assay office again, from 1911 to 1932. Then, from 1932 to 1943, it was a Federal prison. After that, the United States Coast Guard used it for storage, but the building was mostly empty and fell into disrepair. In 1965, it was given to the state of Louisiana. During the Cold War, the old Mint was even thought to be the best fallout shelter in the city.
The state agreed to save the building from being torn down if it was fixed up and given a new purpose within 15 years. This happened between 1978 and 1980. Since 1981, the Mint building has been a museum. It tells the story of its coin-making past. It has also hosted exhibits on New Orleans Mardi Gras (now moved to another building) and jazz music. These exhibits show how much New Orleans is known for its music and culture.
On the third floor, the Mint has an archive with old maps and documents, including records from when Louisiana was ruled by France and Spain. The Mint building is one of five branches of the Louisiana State Museum in the French Quarter.
The Mint building is located at 400 Esplanade Avenue, close to the Mississippi River.
After Hurricane Katrina
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In 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused major damage to the Mint's roof. Water got into the building and affected about 3% of the New Orleans Jazz collection. Parts of the collection were moved to other universities and archives for safekeeping.
Coins Made at the New Orleans Mint
Silver Coins
| Coin type | Series | Years minted | Image | Notes |
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| Three-cent pieces | Silver three-cent | 1851 |  |
The "O" mint mark is next to the Roman numeral "III" on the back. This was the only year a branch mint made three-cent pieces. It was also the smallest silver coin made by any branch mint. |
| Half dimes | Seated Liberty | 1838–1842, 1844, 1848–1860 |  |
Coins from 1853-1855 came in two types: one with arrows by the date, and one without. The arrows meant the coin's weight was slightly less. |
| Dimes | Seated Liberty | 1838–1843, 1845, 1849–1860, 1891 |  |
The mint mark is in the wreath. The 1838 Seated Liberty dime was the first silver coin made in New Orleans. Arrows also appear around the date for some 1853 and all 1854-55 dimes. |
| Barber | 1892–1903, 1905–1909 |  |
Look for the mint mark on the back below the wreath. The 1895-O is a very important coin in the Barber dime series. | |
| Quarters | Seated Liberty | 1840–1844, 1847, 1849–1860, 1891 |  |
Arrows appear in some 1853 and all 1854-55 quarters. |
| Barber | 1892–1909 |  |
Most Barber coins from New Orleans were used a lot, which is why this example looks worn. | |
| Half dollars | Capped Bust | 1838–39 |  |
These two years were the first time mint marks appeared on the front of American coins. After 1840, they were usually on the back. Coins from 1838 are very rare. |
| Seated Liberty | 1840–1861 |  |
Some 1853 coins have both arrows by the date and rays on the back. The 1854-55 coins just have arrows. Coins made on January 25, 1861, were the last U.S. silver coins made in New Orleans until 1879. | |
| Barber | 1892–1909 |  |
The 1892-O is considered a key coin in this series. Half dollars were made most years until the Mint closed. | |
| Dollars | Seated Liberty | 1846, 1850, 1859–60 |  |
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| Morgan | 1879–1904 |  |
This is the most common coin produced by the New Orleans Mint. |
Gold Coins
| Coin type | Series | Years minted | Image | Notes |
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| Dollars | Liberty Head | 1849–1853 | .jpg) |
The 1849 coins only had an open wreath on the back. |
| Indian Princess | 1855 | (no image available) | ||
| Quarter eagles ($2.50) | Classic head | 1839 | (no image available) | |
| Liberty head | 1840, 1842–43, 1845–1847, 1850–1852, 1854, 1856–57 |  |
This example shows the mint mark blending with the arrow feathers. This was common on 1800s U.S. coins. | |
| Three dollars | Indian head | 1854 | (no image available) | This was the only year three-dollar gold pieces were made in New Orleans. |
| Half eagles ($5) | Liberty head | 1840–1847, 1851, 1854–1857, 1892–1894 |  |
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| Indian head | 1909 | (no image available) | These coins had their designs pressed into the metal, rather than raised. | |
| Eagles ($10) | Liberty head | 1841–1860, 1879–1883, 1888, 1892–1895, 1897, 1899, 1901, 1903–04, 1906 |  |
The words "In God We Trust" were added to $10 gold pieces in 1866. 1894 was a year with many eagles made at the New Orleans Mint. |
| Double eagles ($20) | Liberty head | 1850–1861, 1879 |  |
This was the largest value coin made by the U.S. Mint for everyday use. |
See also
