The Denver Mint
February 1, 2022, will mark 116 years of coinage at the Denver Mint. This institution has been one of the mainstays of the monetary system, producing untold billions of coins for the marketplace as well as collectors over the years. Yet, in some ways, the history of this mint does not begin in 1906 but rather several decades earlier.
It all began on the Platte River near present-day Denver in 1858 when settlers found placer gold in considerable quantities. The word quickly spread and within a relatively short time, thousands of would-be millionaires, the “59ers,” were on the their way to western Kansas, as Colorado was then called.
As a result of this influx of miners and their families, residents petitioned Congress to become the Territory of Colorado, and this became a reality in February 1861, on the eve of the Civil War.
Denver was named the territorial capital and later the state capital in 1876.
As in past gold rushes, private coiners soon began making gold coins for the miners. Supplies had to be brought in by wagon, causing high prices, thus small gold coins were useful. The private minters included John Parsons, Joseph Conway and Clark, Gruber & Company. The latter firm was composed of brothers Austin and Milton Clark as well as Emanuel Gruber.
The 1861 Parson and Conway pieces were struck
