Ah, New Orleans. The Big Easy lives in all of our hearts as the home of the French Quarter, Mardi Gras, and sublimely delicious food.

So, the fact that it is also the site of a historic branch of the US Mint may come as a bit of a surprise. However, the New Orleans Mint operated in two distinct periods between 1838 and 1909 and produced millions of coins.

This page looks at one of the more notable historical branch mints in the US. Let’s discuss the New Orleans Mint and its colorful history, which befits its location perfectly.

Why the New Orleans Mint Was Created

The New Orleans Mint came into existence largely for the most obvious reason. The US was suffering from a severe shortage of coins in the 1830s, and the Philadelphia Mint was unable to meet the nation’s circulation demand.

Because of New Orleans’ longstanding role as one of America’s primary ports and centers of commerce, establishing a mint branch there was fairly logical. Its strategic position at the mouth of the Mississippi River (which flows into the Gulf of Mexico) allowed both foreign and domestic gold to be rapidly processed into specie, or gold and silver coins used in transactions.

Much of the driving force behind this growing need for gold and silver coins flowed from the US President at the time, Andrew Jackson. Jackson was generally suspicious of using paper money for major purchases.

So, he authorized the creation of three new mint branches in 1835 in order to handle the incoming ore from both mines in North Carolina and Georgia and from locations in Mexico. The two mints in Charlotte (NC) and Dahlonega (GA) were exclusively built to handle gold coinage. However, the New Orleans Mint would be the largest of the three and the only one that also handled incoming silver.

Now, at the time, a real estate bubble was growing due to land speculation in the American West. Jackson was aghast at it, particularly because of his own negative experiences with land speculators early in life, which had left him in a longstanding personal financial crisis.

Coupled with his hatred for the Second Bank of the United States (which he’d recently dismantled via veto), Jackson sought to change the way that America did business. So, on the heels of authorizing the New Orleans Mint, he issued the Specie Circular of 1836, an executive order mandating that federal lands be purchased with gold or silver, not paper currency.

While Jackson’s stance was somewhat understandable, the absolute nature of the order deepened the gold and silver currency shortage and provoked a tremendous tightening on credit. As a result, the country sank into the Panic of 1837, one of the country’s worst economic recessions in history.

So, by the time that the New Orleans Mint opened its doors on March 8, 1838, the US was in a fairly dark economic place. Thus, it came to occupy an important role in the early days of the United States.

Early Coin Production (1838 – 1861)

The first period of the New Orleans Mint’s service was a fruitful one. Because the new mint was much closer to both the American South and West, it could provide coinage to underserved areas more quickly and effectively.

Its first production run was a simple lot of 30 dimes. From there, the New Orleans Mint would issue every coin in circulation between the half dime and the dollar.

The only exception was the silver three-cent piece, known as the trime, which was introduced in 1851 but never struck at the New Orleans Mint. It also produced several major gold coin denominations during that period, though not every gold coin struck by the US Mint.

In fact, the New Orleans Mint quickly became a vital part of the Treasury’s operations, second only to the Philadelphia Mint. It handled much of the silver coinage due to the Mint’s proximity to Mexico. Mexico was among the world’s leading producers of silver during the 19th century, and the New Orleans Mint served as a key conduit for much of that metal entering US coinage.

It would remain the second-most important mint branch until 1853. In that year, the newly opened San Francisco Mint would overtake it, largely due to the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in 1848 and the ensuing California Gold Rush.

However, it was not the New Orleans Mint’s prestige downgrade that caused its service to end in 1861. The State of Louisiana seceded from the Union on January 26, 1861, putting the New Orleans Mint in the awkward position of being located in a disputed territory.

The Civil War and Its Impact

Overnight, the New Orleans Mint became property of the State of Louisiana. Federal employees initially remained in place and continued limited coin production during the early months of 1861, though jurisdiction over the mint rapidly shifted as Louisiana seceded and later joined the Confederacy.

Of course, the Union government did not just cede the mint to Louisiana. So, the New Orleans Mint now had two governments claiming jurisdiction over it.

Two months later, the situation grew even murkier due to the fact that the State of Louisiana officially joined the newly formed Confederate States of America. It became part of the breakaway country on March 21, 1861, placing the New Orleans Mint under the jurisdiction of a third government entity.

Of course, the situation grew clearer — in a way — in April 1861. The CSA attacked Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina on April 12, 1861, beginning the American Civil War.

During the Confederate period, the New Orleans Mint primarily functioned as a symbol. The CSA lacked the capability to mint coins at scale and saw extremely limited coinage activity, including the striking of just four Confederate half dollars, making them among the rarest US-related coins in existence. Aside from the removal of roughly $500,000 in precious metals, limited paper money production, and minimal activity, the New Orleans Mint largely shuttered during the war.

Post-Civil War Years (1865 – 1909)

After the Civil War ended in April 1865, the New Orleans Mint returned to federal jurisdiction in Washington, D.C. However, it was in no shape to return to its former function right away.

For one thing, the minting equipment did not survive the Civil War. The country was deep into Reconstruction, and new minting presses had to be ordered and installed—a process that would take years.

So, the New Orleans Mint remained completely shuttered for eleven years after the war. It reopened in 1876, and only as an assay office.

It finally began issuing coinage once again in 1879. It did so faithfully and helped to promulgate the re-emerging silver dollar throughout the country. However, the New Orleans Mint did not produce particularly high-quality strikes in this postwar period.

As a result, even though the O mint mark is a good sign, many of its later coins will not look especially impressive. Still, it was produced for the US Mint until 1909, when the output of the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco Mints made the New Orleans location unnecessary.

The “O” Mint Mark

No matter the year or the government in power, the New Orleans Mint issued coins with its own signature mint mark. Each coin bore the “O” mint mark.

The “O” mint mark derives from “Orleans,” reflecting the city’s French heritage. Unlike later mint marks that standardized the use of the city’s first letter, early US Mint branches followed fewer formal conventions.

However, the O mint mark is now quite the find for collectors and numismatists around the world. Many classic silver and gold coins with the O mint mark are prized commodities.

Some of those famous O-marked coins include:

• Morgan silver dollars
• Seated Liberty coins
• Gold Eagles, Double Eagles, and Half Eagles

Post-Closure (1909 – Present)

Since its closure in 1909, the New Orleans Mint site has served various functions. At various points, it acted as an assay office, a Coast Guard facility, a federal office, and even a fallout shelter.

It is now owned and operated by the Louisiana State Museum. It has become a repository not only for its own important historical artifacts, but also for those of New Orleans and the surrounding area.

Appropriately, the New Orleans Mint’s theater facilities also serve as venues for jazz performances from time to time. Despite a two-year closure for renovations in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina damaged the buildings, the refurbished building is one of the Big Easy’s premier venues for smaller, more intimate jazz concerts.

Why New Orleans Coins Matter to Collectors

New Orleans Mint coins draw the eye of collectors for a few simple reasons. First, the coins’ historical significance is undeniable. These coins are tied to the early days of the United States, the American Civil War, and the Second Industrial Revolution, making each a genuine piece of American history.

The New Orleans Mint also produced coinage at a lower rate than the Philadelphia Mint. So, they are necessarily rarer than the coins without mint marks (Philadelphia).

There is high demand for Morgan silver dollars that display the O mint mark. The combination of the Morgans’ renown and the distinctive mint mark continues to make these coins especially desirable among collectors.