34°31′48″N83°59′14″W / 34.5299°N 83.9871°W /34.5299; -83.9871TheDahlonega Mint was a formerbranch of theUnited States Mint built during theGeorgia Gold Rush to help the miners get their goldassayed andminted, without having to travel to thePhiladelphia Mint.[1]: 80–81, 105 It was located at (34°31.8′N 83°59.2′W ) inDahlonega,Lumpkin County, Georgia. Coins produced at the Dahlonega Mint bear the "D"mint mark. That mint mark is used today by theDenver Mint, which opened in 1906, over four decades after the Dahlonega Mint closed. All coins from the Dahlonega Mint are gold, in the $1, $2.50, $3, and $5 denominations, and bear dates in the range 1838–1861.
TheMint Act of 1835, established by theUnited States Congress on 3 March, established "one branch at the city ofNew Orleans for the coinage of gold and silver; one branch at the town ofCharlotte...for the coinage of gold only; and one branch at or near Dahlonega, in Lumpkin County, in the state of Georgia, also for the coinage of gold only."[1]: 107
Ignatius Alphonso Few, appointed commissioner, bought ten acres south of Dahlonega for $1,050 (equal to $32,005 today) in August 1835, and hired the architect Benjamin Towns, the lowest bidder at $33,450 (equal to $1,019,578 today), to construct the mint within eighteen months. Mint machinery was installed in 1837, which included "cutting presses, a fly wheel, a drawing frame, a crank shaft, a coining press, and eighteen annealing pans." The coining press could make "fifty to sixty gold coins per minute."[1]: 107–108
Superintendent Dr. Joseph Singleton, opened the mint in February 1838. About a thousand ounces of gold were deposited in the first week, and the first coins consisting of eighty five-dollar gold pieces, were minted on 17 April.[1]: 108
The mint produced coins every year from 1838 through 1861. Denominations produced included$1.00; $2.50 (quarter eagles);$3.00 (1854 only); and $5.00 (half eagles).
When theAmerican Civil War broke out in 1861, the Dahlonega Mint was seized by theConfederates. It is believed that after the Confederates took over the mint in 1861, that some gold dollars and half eagles were minted under the authority of the Confederate States Government. The exact number of 1861-D gold dollars produced is unknown, while approximately 1,597 1861-D half eagles were struck. Because of their relatively low mintage, all Dahlonega-minted gold coins are rare. It is generally accepted that gold coins estimated to exceed $6 million wereminted here.
After the end of the Civil War, The United States Government decided against reopening the mint. The building was unused until the founding ofNorth Georgia College in 1873. The mint building was used as the main academic and administrative building for the college until a firedestroyed the original building in December 1878. A new building for the college was erected on the foundations of the old mint building. This building is now named Price Memorial Hall afterWilliam P. Price, the founder of the college, and is still used by the college today.
Gold leaf from this area also covers the exterior of the domed roof over therotunda of theGeorgia State Capitol inAtlanta. Local media often refer to thestate legislature's activities as what's going on "under the gold dome". After the capitol building was gold leafed citizens of Dahlonega began a campaign to gold leaf Price Memorial Hall after the same fashion as the capitol.
For otherUnited States Mint facilities, seeHistorical United States mints.
Six men acted as Superintendent of the Dahlonega Mint.[2]
Media related toDahlonega Mint at Wikimedia Commons
