Third Philadelphia Mint Building Built 119 Years Ago
The Philadelphia Mint, known as the Mother Mint, was established in 1792 by the Founding Fathers. At the time, Philadelphia was the nation’s capital as it would be until 1800, when Washington, D.C. took the honor. To date, four different buildings have served as the home of the Philadelphia Mint since its inception. This Saturday, June 13th, marks the 119th Anniversary of the third mint building.
The third Philadelphia Mint building, located on Spring Garden Street, was the largest and most technologically advanced mint at the time. The Mint used gas powered furnaces, instead of coal, which allowed metals to be heated evenly. For the first time the Mint also had electric rollers which helped with uniformity in the thickness of ingots. The third mint building cost $2 million dollars and the state-of-the-art equipment added another $1 million in costs.
Among the equipment was a machine that could strike 100 pennies in one minute. The basement of the third Philadelphia Mint included 20 steel-lined vaults which held millions of dollars worth of precious metals. In one year, the third Philadelphia Mint was able to strike 501 million coins, or 2/3 of the total coins produced by the United States that year.
Architect of the Treasury William Martin Aiken designed the structure for the Third Philadelphia Mint and his successor, James Knox Taylor, constructed the building. The notable architecture of the building includes Roman columns at the entrance, carved gargoyles around the cornice-line, and bronze lion doorknockers. The inside of the Mint featured a marble staircase, as well as other intricate carvings in the ceiling.
Inside the third Philadelphia Mint, visitors and employees were treated to the sight of three American Eagle tile mosaics. Sculptures of eagles also adorn either side of the marble staircase.
Further into the third mint building is the Rotunda, which once held mineralogical samples while the Mint operated. The top of the Rotunda walls are adorned with murals painted by the Work Projects Administration, founded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of his New Deal to help after the Great Depression. The murals depict miners panning for gold and surveying the California mountains during the Gold Rush.
One especially exquisite piece of art built into the third Philadelphia Mint was the seven glass mosaics designed by Louis C. Tiffany, who was the first Design Director at the famous Tiffany & Co. These Tiffany Favrile glass mosaics were inspired by murals found in the ruins of Pompeii and depict children creating Roman coinage. After the fourth Philadelphia Mint was opened, the glass mosaics were moved there in 1971.
The first and second mint buildings were eventually demolished, but the beautiful third mint building was repurposed as the Community College of Philadelphia. In honor of the building’s history, the Community College of Philadelphia has installed an exhibit commemorating Gilroy Roberts, the Ninth Chief Engraver of the U.S. Mint, well-known for designing the Kennedy Half Dollar. This historic building can still be visited today, 119 years after its opening day.
