The first United States mint buildings are indeed historical in more ways
than one, and while a number of suggestions have been made for their
preservation it is highly probable they will eventually be located by the
means of a bronze tablet on the front of the steel and concrete structure
in contemplation for the use of the Frank H. Stewart Electric Company,
who now occupy the buildings adjoining them on the south and east. The
retention of the buildings on the present site is prohibited on account
of the great value of the land and its location in the heart of the
business section, and their removal by private enterprise to another site
unlikely because of the great expense that such removal would entail.
If a few 1804 dollars, which now have a record price of thirty-six
hundred dollars each, should be found in the buildings, their removal
would be rendered easier, provided they were found before the destruction
of the buildings, but this is highly improbable, although there will
undoubtedly be a few coins discovered, as there were when the building
was erected on the Filbert Street lot on the site of the old mint
smelting house, which is contiguous to the Seventh Street lot.
Washington in his first annual address to Congress referred to the
importance of uniformity in the currency.
His second annual address urged the importance of the establishment of a
mint.
In his third address he spoke of disorders in the existing currency, the
scarcity of change, and recommended carrying into effect the resolution
already entered into concerning the establishment of a mint; also
remarked that measures had been taken for procuring some of the most
necessary artists, together with the necessary apparatus.
His fourth annual address referred to employment of artists, both from
abroad and at home, to aid in the establishment of the mint. He also
stated that provision had been made for the requisite buildings, which
were then being put in proper condition, and spoke of a small beginning
in the coinage of half “dismes.”
His sixth annual address stated “the mint had entered upon the coinage
of the precious metals, and there was a pleasing prospect that the
institution would at no remote day realize the expectation which was
originally formed of its utility.”
His seventh annual address called attention to “the necessity of further
legislation for checking abuses in particular quarters, and for carrying
its business more completely into effect.”
It will be seen from Washington’s reference in six out of eight of
his messages to Congress to the currency and mint that he was deeply
interested in the matter and considered it of more than ordinary
importance.
It has been stated that he was a frequent visitor to the mint, and that
the first silver dismes and half dismes were made from silver contributed
by him. The will of John L. Kates, a former owner of the buildings, says
that the corner-stone was laid by Washington, but this is unlikely,
as he was not in Philadelphia the day on which it is supposed to have
been laid. The contents of the corner-stone when found will undoubtedly
contain something of great interest to antiquarians.
The original buildings, with the exception of the smelting house, still
stand at 37 and 39 North Seventh Street, and in the rear of these
numbers. There were three different brick buildings, all separated by
yards and alleys, those facing Seventh Street were used for executive
offices, etc. Immediately back of them was the one used as the coinage
department, and back of that was the small two-story building facing
Filbert Street and about twenty feet back of the line of that street. The
old building used as the smelting house was torn down the latter part of
1907, and a four-story concrete building erected on the site.
The frontispiece shows the front buildings facing Seventh Street, and the
illustration opposite page 5 the coinage building back of them, which is
separated from the front buildings by a court yard 18 feet deep. Inasmuch
as considerable attempt at ornamentation was made on the front of the
coinage building, it is quite probable that this was the first building
erected. Tradition has it that this was originally three stories high and
that the top story was burned off. If such was the case the third story
was of wooden construction. The walled up windows in the rear show the
window sills to be badly charred.
Remains of old arched brick vaults still exist in the basement of 39
North Seventh Street.
The building in the rear, used as the coinage department, has two arched
and paved brick vaults in its basement intact except the doors. One of
the vaults, illustrated opposite page 9, has a smaller vault in its rear
end, which was undoubtedly used as a storage place for the most valuable
of the mint’s possessions. Strong brick arches and exceedingly heavy
joists, averaging twelve inches square, were placed in the basement to
support the coinage presses above.
The building formerly facing Filbert Street had no basement, and when
excavations were made for the new building two old brick-walled wells
were uncovered, one of which was four feet in diameter, with cesspool
refuse in the bottom. The other well was about seven feet in diameter and
the bottom was not reached, as the excavations only went down about 12
feet. These wells were between the old building and Filbert Street. The
larger one was three or four feet back of the centre of the property at
35 North Seventh Street, and the other was just off the southeast corner
of the demolished building. It is quite likely that the largest well
furnished water for the distillery of Michael Shubart.
It is interesting to note that in the excavations on the site of the old
building, several copper coins and planchets were found, most of which
are illustrated opposite page 20. Two worthy of mention are about the
size of half-cents, but with small holes in the centre, one of them
having a milled edge, the other a plain edge. They are supposed to be
planchets for the excessively rare 1792 silver centre cents, which must
certainly have been struck off at the mint, otherwise the planchets
would not have been found there. The author now has these finds in his
possession, as well as a collection of hand forged hardware taken off the
old building.
On May 8, 1792, the director of the mint was authorized, with the
approbation of the President, to purchase a quantity of copper for the
coinage of cents and half-cents, and Congress also provided that when
fifty thousand (50,000) dollars of such cents and half-cents had been
coined notice should be given to the public in at least two newspapers,
and that any attempt to pass other copper coins would result in their
forfeiture.
From a national viewpoint the old mint buildings are the most historical
in the United States, because they were the first erected by the
authority of the Federal Government for public use. It was the sole
United States Mint from 1792 to 1833. The corner-stone was laid July 31,
1792, and presumably by David Rittenhouse, the celebrated astronomer
and philosopher and first director of the mint. The achievements of
Rittenhouse very readily place him in the same distinguished class as
Benjamin Franklin.
The ground on which the first United States mint buildings stand was sold
by William Penn to the Pennsylvania Land Company, and transferred to it
by deed dated August 12, 1699, “in the 11th year of our Sovereign Lord
King William III, of England, Scotland, France and Ireland.”
The Pennsylvania Land Company then consisted of Tobias Collett,
haberdasher; Michael Russell, weaver; Daniel Quare, watchmaker, and Henry
Goldney, linendraper, all of London, England.
[Illustration: VAULT WITHIN A VAULT