The San Francisco Mint

The Old San Francisco Mint is a sturdy, two-story structure of sandstone and granite, identified by the heavy Doric columns of its central portico at the corner of Fifth and Mission Streets. Completed in eighteen seventy-four, this building served as the city’s branch of the United States Mint for over sixty years. Its massive foundation and thick stone walls were designed specifically to protect the nation's gold reserves from both thieves and seismic activity.