San Francisco Mint

The San Francisco Mint is a branch of the United States Mint, and was opened in 1854 to serve the gold mines of the California Gold Rush. It quickly outgrew its first building and moved into a new one in 1874. This building, the Old United States Mint, also known affectionately as The Granite Lady, is one of the few that survived the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake. It served until 1937, when the present facility was opened.

San Franciso Mint in Southern Victory
In 1881, during the Second Mexican War, the San Francisco Mint was the target of a daring daylight raid by the British Royal Marines as the Royal Navy attacked the city. The Marines brought with them dynamite to blow open the doors and stealing as much gold and silver as they could carry, quickly left.

The exact amount of what was stolen from the US mint was never clarified, as reports ranged from a quarter of million, to fifty million dollars.



