The oldest factory in America doesn’t build cars, planes, or whiskey stills. It builds money.

In 1792, George Washington approved the Coinage Act, officially creating the United States Mint. At the time, America’s finances were in chaos. Thirteen states were minting their own money, British coins were still in circulation, and no one could agree on what anything was worth.

The solution was to build a single federal mint and start making coins that every American could trust. The first one opened in Philadelphia, a small brick building powered by horses and elbow grease.

From the start, the Mint represented more than economics. It stood for credibility and identity. Coins were physical proof that the new country was here to stay, tangible symbols of national pride you could jingle in your pocket.

Not all round metal is created equal.

Coins have a denomination, which means they can be spent. Medallions have no face value. They’re art pieces, commemorations, or collector items.

One buys you a sandwich. The other earns you a handshake from someone who’s spent real money on a magnifying glass.

The Mint makes both. Coins feed the economy. Medallions feed the soul of anyone who looks at a polished piece of silver featuring the Apollo 11 moon landing and thinks, “Yeah, that’s cool as hell.”

And then there are challenge coins, unofficial cousins created for military units, firehouses, and secret groups. Drop one on a bar counter in front of the right person and your drink’s covered.

When you see a proof coin, think of it like the Ferrari of minting. Same base model, wildly better finish.

Proof coins are struck multiple times using mirror-polished dies and specially treated blanks. That’s what gives them that deep black background and frosty detail that collectors obsess over.

They’re so sharp that under magnification, you can see George Washington’s hair texture and Lincoln’s jacket folds. The Mint sells annual Proof Sets, pristine packages of each coin minted that year, like Pokémon cards for adults (who can spell “numismatics”).

Fun Fact: Before mass production, proof coins were made by hand as presentation pieces for congressmen and VIPs. They were the Mint’s “look what we can do” moments.

The U.S. Mint loves a good anniversary. Over the years, it has produced coins for everything from World’s Fairs and statehoods to the Olympics and space exploration.

In 1992 it created the Columbus Quincentenary coins to mark the 500th anniversary of Columbus reaching the Bahamas. In 2019 it released the Apollo 11 50th Anniversary coin, designed with a domed shape that mimicked an astronaut’s helmet. It has even made Super Bowl coins, proof that Americans will stamp a logo on almost anything.

Most commemorative coins are legal tender but meant for collectors. Spending one is like cracking a vintage bourbon because you ran out of seltzer. You can do it, but it’s a bad idea.

Every U.S. coin carries a tiny letter that tells you where it was born.

P for Philadelphia, the original.

D for Denver, the Mile High Mint.

S for San Francisco, the classy one.

W for West Point, where the fancy gold and silver proofs are made.

If you ever find a “W” quarter in circulation, hold onto it. Only a few million were made.

Coin making is a mix of engineering, art, and metallurgy.

Designs start as sketches from artists in the Mint’s Artistic Infusion Program. Sculptors then turn them into 3D models using computer-guided engraving tools. Dies are hand polished, blanks are heated and cooled with surgical precision, and the press hits them with up to sixty tons of pressure, enough to tattoo metal forever.

Each strike is inspected under magnification. A single scratch or fingerprint means it’s scrapped. That’s how your pocket change ends up looking like something you’d see in a museum case.

The U.S. Mint is more than a factory. It’s a 230-year-old symbol of precision, pride, and pure American shine.

It’s where the country’s values are literally pressed into metal, where every nickel and dime carries a slice of history, and where collectors see not just currency but craftsmanship.

Next time you dump loose change into your car cup holder, take a second to look at one. That coin’s a piece of America’s story, forged and polished since the days when George Washington still had his own teeth.