US Mints

The U.S Constitution in Article I, section 10 reads—

“No state shall…coin money, emit bills of credit, make any thing but gold and silver a tender in payment of debts…” 

This means that the only constitutionally valid forms of money are gold or silver coin.  This is called ‘lawful money.’

Growing Nation Needed Official Money

The United States Mint was created to provide the rapidly growing nation with ‘lawful money’ needed for commerce. Official Legal Tender coins were designed and first minted in 1793 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The first U.S. Mint building was in Philadelphia, then the capital of the United States. It was the first building of the new Republic raised under the Constitution.

Often left off the list of U.S. Mints are the two Southern Mints long closed, almost forgotten except by astute Rare Coin collectors. As Gold was discovered in The Southern Statex, official branches of the U.S. Mint were opened in—

• Charlotte, North Carolina 1838-1861, “C” mint mark
• Dahlonega, Georgia 1838-1861, “D” mint mark

Anyone looking to acquire the oldest and rarest of U.S. Mint coins often look first to these early branch U.S. Mints opened in the Old South before the Civil War.