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The Carson City Mint – With Abe Curry’s ComplimentsThe Carson City Mint owed its existence to the efforts of Carson City’s founder, Abraham Curry. Abe Curry had the good sense (dare we say, luck?) to buy the land for his highly speculative project in 1858, less than a year before prospector Henry Comstock claimed silver in the nearby hills.Before the Comstock strike, Curry’s land had little value. Situated in Carson County, a huge expanse in the western part of Utah Territory, prior owners had developed trade with Gold Rush prospectors moving to and from the California diggings. By 1858 the easy pickings in California were nearly over, and traffic declined to a trickle. A bit before this, Curry, a native of New York, had come across to California with a desire to participate in the gold driven economic boom. Perhaps he would build a store. But land was too expensive in California. (Imagine that!) Curry next tried to purchase land for a store in Utah, but the owner wanted too much. Success, as defined by inexpensive land, awaited Curry just east of California in what would become, largely from his own efforts, Carson City. Curry bought his land on the cheap. So instead of a store, he planned a town. Meanwhile, the local silver strikes – soon to be called The Comstock Lode -- changed everything. By 1860 the silver boom was in full swing, so that in 1861 Abe Curry had a nice position in the newly created Territory of Nevada. Nevada StatehoodRepublicans in Washington, listening to the ever louder drums of war, wanted to the Territory to become… the State of Nevada.It was felt that Nevada, upon achieving statehood, would be a non-slave holding state that would side with the Union. There were few people, much less than the 60,000 required for statehood. Not surprisingly, creative legislators in Congress found a way to waive the headcount requirement for statehood. Nevada joined the Union in the Fall of 1864, just in time to insure Abraham Lincoln’s re-election. CC MintAs silver mining became more productive, bullion shipments to the San Francisco Mint grew as well. The usual issue of high transportation cost with little security, together with hefty doses of promotion from the Salesman Extraordinaire of Carson City, Abe Curry, drove Congress to authorize creation of the Carson City Mint. Curry was awarded the contract for construction, which commenced in 1866.The Renaissance Revival style building was designed by an architect experienced in government building projects, Alfred B. Mullett. Constructed of stone, it featured a central portico and paired, round topped windows. Curry was plagued with rising costs and an unpredictable labor force. It’s always that way in a gold or silver rush. The forces of inflation and the temptation of the mines in the minds of the workers are challenges not without precedent. Curry overcame these difficulties, and the first Carson City Mint coins, ten dollar gold pieces – in spite of the predominance of silver – were struck on February 14, 1870.
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