There was a lot of gold and silver that needed to be used to mint coins so they stored it in the basement of the mint in vaults. They painted the words "Ye Olde Mint" and that was the first mint in the United States. During that time, it was one of the most prominent and tallest buildings in the city. In fact, the smelt house became the first public building built by the US government, which was three stories tall and was constructed with brick. All they had to do then was start installing equipment and a smelting furnace. Work began the next day when they immediately started to demolish the abandoned building.Ĭonstruction of the foundation started on July 31st and the building itself was completed by September 7th of that same year. The location was at Seventh Street and 631 Filbert Street where an old abandoned whiskey distillery was located. Rittenhouse bought two lots for $4,266.67 on July 18th of that same year. A scientist by the name of David Rittenhouse was appointed by President George Washington to become the very first Director of the Mint. The Coinage Act was created April 2nd of 1792 and it was a few months before the mint was built. "Ye Olde Mint" - First US Coin Mint in Philadelphia They also agreed that the coins would have to have a "liberty" type theme or "an impression emblematic of liberty". They also decided what composition the coins would be, how much they would weight and what denominations would be created. The reason this city was chosen was because it was the national capital during that time period. Many people wonder why they chose Philadelphia of all places to build the first mint. On April 2, 1792, the Coinage Act was made into the law and established the US Mint. In fact, the founding fathers of the US thought this was one of the higher priorities after the Constitution was ratified. The creation of the mint in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was largely due to a need to create a national identity and to create a form of commerce in the newly formed country. It was also where the first US coin was ever struck as well. The Philadelphia mint was the first official mint in the United States of America.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |