Clark & Gruber Mint - Denver, CO
Posted by: 
Outspoken1
N 39° 45.000 W 104° 59.889
13S E 500158 N 4400010
Plaque denoting the original location of the Clark & Gruber Mint; part of a Walking Tour of lower Downtown (original) Denver
Waymark Code: WM39J9
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 03/01/2008
Views: 53
The start of the Colorado Gold Rush followed that of California by almost exactly ten years. Two settlements, Auraria and Denver City (the present day Denver), formed on opposite sides of the South Platte River, and by 1860 Auraria was absorbed by Denver City. During this time, the risk of loss in bullion trading was great due to increased criminal activity and little in the way of organized local security. The stage was set for a local mint, and there to fill the void was Clark, Gruber, & Co. Commerce in Colorado took a significant turn when they arrived.
C, G, & Co. bought three lots in Denver City on which to build their mint, and a two-story brick "Assay and Coinage Office" was erected on the corner of McGaa and G Streets (the present 16th and Market). Coinage began quickly and totaled approximately $120,00 between July and October of 1860. The entire area was known as the "Pike's Peak District," leading to the legend PIKES PEAK GOLD DENVER seen on the Clark, Gruber, & Co. 1860 ten and 20 dollar gold. In 1863, the federal government bought out the firm under the pretense of setting up a branch mint. No coinage was produced at the Denver Mint until 1906.
The plaque reads:
Clark and Gruber Mint
The parking lot across 16th Street from the RTD turnaround station, and across Market Street from the office supply store, was from 1860 to 1906 the site of Denver's first official mint. On January 18, 1860, the Denver Town Company granted the deed to three lots in Denver City for $600 to Clark, Gruber & Company. The building included a basement at ground level at the rear of the lot, which contained all the minting machinery and apparatus. The first floor contained the banking facilities, which included a circular oak counter and four desks. An engine house was located to the rear of the main building. Opened in July 1860, these facilities remained in operation, conducting banking and producing hefty $10 and $20 gold pieces, until the minting function was sold to the U.S. government in April 1863. This was one of the few times and places in U.S. history that a financial institution simultaneously conducted commercial banking and gold coin minting operations. After acquiring the building, the U.S. Mint chose never to mint coins on this site, and in 1906, moved to its present location at 320 West Colfax Avenue. The reorganized banking operations of Clark & Company moved to 1405 15th Street and received a national bank charter on May 10, 1865, under the name of First National Bank of Denver.