San Francisco is one of the only major cities in the United States without a museum dedicated to its history. All that will change next year when the old U.S. Mint on Fifth and Mission Streets will be converted into a state-of-the-art museum showcasing the city’s rich history. It’s an appropriate building for such a place-its construction was the result of the Gold Rush, which, of course, has a strong Barbary Coast connection. It’s also where the Barbary Coast trail-the series of self-guided, sidewalk-implanted medallions-begins. Which is fitting because the mint is essentially a money factory. And that’s what brought the world here in the first place, one giant plea for a better, more comfortable life.
Prior to the Gold Rush, San Francisco was a small town that mostly used barter as well as Mexican reals, Dutch gilders and even Indian rupees, as a form of currency.
So the government built a mint in 1852 to start producing US currency. But the supply of gold and silver that was coming in from the hills was too much. That’s when this majestic mint was constructed. Built between 1869-1873, the new mint produced 59 percent of America’s gold and silver coinage in its first year of operation. It’s also worth mentioning, it is one of the few buildings to withstand the 1906 earthquake and fire.
The mint also happens to be my first physical stop on my search to find the remnants of the Barbary Coast. This is one of the more obvious markers. But there are others-more subtle indicators-along the trail that I’ll be following this month. I take my last look at the mint, as MUNI busses roar past me and morning commuters whisk by on their way to work, and take a step toward Market Street, knowing the next time I’m back the building will be transformed into a gleaming new history museum of San Francisco.