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Hills of San Francisco - Mint Hill


Name: Mint Hill
Neighborhood: Duboce Triangle/Lower Haight 
Elevation: 150 feet

The history of Mint Hill is the history of the San Francisco Mint...or mints...there have been three in San Francisco so far, the last of which is the one on Mint Hill.

The need for a mint in San Francisco came about due to the Gold Rush. At the time, there was so much gold flowing through the city that President James Polk asked Congress to allow for a new Mint to be built in the city, so that gold from California would no longer have to be sent to Philadelphia or New Orleans to be turned into coins.

Congress voted for the creation of the new mint in 1852, and it was opened in 1854. The coins all bore the letter "S" for San Francisco. The mint remained in operation for just 20 years and was replaced wiht a second one in 1874.

Then the second mint was then deemed too small in the 1930s, so a third mint was built in 1937 on a hilltop that's now called Mint Hill. This third mint closed down in 1955. It was opened again in 1965 when the US was experiencing a coin shortage. 

Today, the San Francisco Mint no longer create coins for general circulation. It's still used, however, for printing proof coins, including regular proof coins and silver proof coins. The mint is closed to the public as all of its floor space is dedicated to printing coins.

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Location: San Francisco, CA 94110, USA

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