Carson City Mint

U.S. Mint Expansion

In 1859, hungry prospectors returning empty handed from the California Gold rush stumbled on what we know today as the famous Comstock Lode in the Sierra Mountains of Nevada in the Wild West Frontier Days and the birth of the Carson City U.S. Mint evolved.

Soon, miners rushed in by the thousands. These rugged frontiersmen tended to distrust the government and hated the paper money they called “greenbacks.” Many merchants, traders, and workers insisted on being paid in hard currency of U.S. Gold Coins or Silver Dollars from U.S. Mints. But, there was a serious shortage of us mint Gold out west.

Carson City MintNevada prospectors who found Gold or Silver had to haul their heavy bullion, nuggets, and Gold dust by horseback or wagon train on a dangerous and difficult trip through Indian and outlaw country to the U.S. Mint in San Francisco.

In 1858, Abe Curry, the founder of Carson City, Nevada successfully lobbied Congress to solve problems on the frontier by building a new U.S. Mint in the town he named after Kit Carson.

Coining at the U.S. Mint

Coins were first struck at the new U.S. mint after the Civil War in 1870. Historically, the Carson City Mint became famous among coin collectors for producing higher quality coins and lower mintages than Gold coins and Silver coins struck at other U.S. Mints. Today, coins from the famous Carson City Mint bearing the famous "CC" mint mark are highly sought after by coin collectors and investors alike.