The Denver Mint is a branch of the United States Mint that struck its
first coins on February 1, 1906. The mint is still operating and
producing coins for circulation, as well as mint sets and
commemorative coins. Coins produced at the Denver Mint bear a D mint
mark (not to be confused with the mark of the Dahlonega Mint). The
Denver Mint is the single largest producer of coins in the world.The
predecessors of the Denver Mint were the men of Clark, Gruber and
Company. During the Pikes Peak Gold Rush, they coined gold dust
brought from the gold fields by the miners. In 1858, Austin M. Clark,
Milton E. Clark and Emanuel Henry Gruber founded a brokerage firm in
Leavenworth, Kansas, and then established an office in Denver at the
beginning of the Colorado Gold Rush. Desiring to save on shipping and
insurance costs associated with shipping gold back east, the firm
opened a private mint. On 25 July 1860, the mint opened in a two-story
brick building on the corner of Market and 16th Streets, minting $10
gold pieces at the rate of "fifteen or twenty coins a minute". "On the
face is a representation of the peak, its base surrounded by a forest
of timber and 'Pikes Peak Gold' encircling the summit. Immediately
under its base is the word 'Denver', and beneath it 'Ten D.'. On the
reverse is the American Eagle encircled by the name of the firm
'Clark, Gruber & Co.', and beneath the date, '1860'.":26â€"27A $20
gold coin was added, "the weight will be greater, but the value the
same as the United States coin of like denomination". A $5 and a $2.5
gold coin were added, with production reaching $18,000 per week. On
the front was the "head of the Goddess of Liberty surrounded by
thirteen stars, with "Clark & Company" in the tiara. "Pikes's Peak
Gold, Denver" was on the other side, with "5D." or "2 1/2 D.":27In the
almost three years of operation, they minted $594,305 worth of Pike's
Peak Gold in the form of gold coins. Additionally, they purchased
77,000 troy ounces of raw gold, and shipped "large amounts of dust" to
the Philadelphia Mint. The building, assaying and minting equipment
was formally bought by the US Treasury in April 1863. Clark, Gruber &
Co. remained a bank until bought by the First National Bank of Denver
in 1865.:27 Denver Mint Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter