Fact of the Day: Mint
The first U.S. mint was established in 1652 - in defiance of English colonial law - by John Hull, a silversmith in Massachusetts. The first coin issued was the Pine Tree Shilling. The initial issue consisted of simple round planchets with NE punched on the obverse and the denomination on the reverse. John Hull's share in the profits of the mint was fifteen pence out of every twenty shillings and he rapidly amassed a fortune. With the exception of Maryland, where Lord Baltimore struck off a few silver coins, Massachusetts is the only one of the 13 colonies that had a mint before the American Revolution. The mint in Philadelphia was founded in 1792 and still makes the majority of the coins used in daily circulation in the United States. The mint in Denver, founded in 1906, also produces general coinage. The mint in San Francisco, founded in 1854, discontinued making general coinage in 1955; but was reestablished in 1965 to make proof sets of coins for collectors. The mint at We st Point, New York, is now used primarily for gold minting.
From Reference.Com
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