The Story of the Old Mint in San Francisco

*Due to technical difficulties, the virtual program was not recorded. We apologize if you planned to watch the recording of this virtual program. 

Katherine Petrin, an Architectural Historian and Preservation Planner in private practice in San Francisco, California, her hometown as our speaker. Katherine currently serves as the Project Manager for the planning phase of the U.S. Old Mint Restoration Project in collaboration with the California Historical Society and the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development.

To say that the Old Mint is an interesting and historic building would be an understatement.  Consider the following:

• The Mint was the built in 1874. It was the first Federal building in San Francisco.  The construction of the mint was a large step to make Californians feel part of the nation. It was a source of great pride to the young state.
• The mint exceeded all expectation as can be seen in 1837 when the US produced $83M in gold and silver coins. $50M of which came out of the SF mint.
• In 1906, it was the only financial institution to survive the earthquake. It opened (under armed guard) 3 days later. This saved the city from economic chaos.
• In the 1930’s, 30% of the United States gold reserves were held in the mints ground floor safe.

Katherine discussed the future of this historic irreplaceable building.