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On the whole the history of mints correlates very closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is normally related in a fashion that more closely ties to the political situation of the day. For example, when discussing the history of the New Orleans Mint , the usage of that mint by confederate forces beginning in 1861 comes up quickly. The origins of the Philadelphia Mint which began operations in 1792 and first produced circulating coinage in 1793 are most often related within the political context of the time.

In the beginning, hammered coinage or cast coinage were the only choices. In more modern mints, coin dies are manufactured in large numbers and planchets are made into coins by the billions.

Each city-state in ancient Greece had its own mint. Roman mints were spread far and wide across the empire, and used extensively for propaganda purposes. One way people knew there was a new emperor was when he minted coins with his (or her) portrait on it. Many of the emperors that ruled only for a very short time made sure that they got their portrait on some coins. Quietus, for example, ruled only part of the empire from 260-261 AD, yet he issued several coins bearing his image.

With the mass production of currency the production cost must be weighed when minting coins. It costs the US Mint much less than 25 cents to make a quarter, and the difference in production cost and face value (called seigniorage) helps fund the minting body (in the case of the United States, the Department of the Treasury).

1 Notable mints

• Royal Australian Mint
• Royal Canadian Mint
• Royal Mint of the United Kingdom
• United States Mint
• Birmingham MintThe Birmingham Mint in Birmingham, England was established in 1794 in Slaney Street by Ralph Heaton I, using second-hand coin presses bought from the estate of Matthew Boulton. Over the next 200 years, the mint became renowned globally for its high qualit
• Dahlonega MintThe Dahlonega Mint was chartered by the United States Congress in 1838, at the mining town of Dahlonega, Georgia, during the first gold rush. It operated until the American Civil War broke out in 1861. Gold leaf from this area also covers the exterior of
• Franklin MintThe Franklin Mint is a private corporation based in Media, Pennsylvania, USA which markets " collectables" of their own designs. The company started by marketing privately-minted gold and silver commemorative rounds and medallions, but quickly branched ou

See also United States Department of the TreasuryThe United States Department of the Treasury is a Cabinet department, a treasury, of the United States government established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage the revenue of the United States government. Overview It is administered by the United St, Master of the MintMaster of the Mint was an important office in the British government between the 16th and 19th centuries. The Master was the highest officer in the royal mint. Until 1699, appointment was usually for life. Its holder occasionally sat in the cabinet. The o, Mint-made errorsMint-made errors are errors in a coin made by the mint during the minting process. These fall into three general categories. Planchet errors # Hub and die errors # Strike errors See also 1955 double die Numismatics.