Have you ever wondered where currency comes from? The government agency that makes money is called The US Mint. There are six places in the United States that are part of this agency. Each one of these places does a different job. A mint only makes coins. Paper money is made by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. So, paper money is printed and coins are minted. 

The very first mint in the U.S. was built in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1792. Not only is it the oldest mint in the United States, it is also the largest mint in the world. This location can make almost 2 million coins every hour. It would take almost 24 days to count that much money, and you couldn’t take any breaks at all. Other mints do very different jobs. Some just make money while others don’t make any money at all. The Fort Knox mint stores most of the gold owned by the United States government.

There are a lot of steps that go into making a coin. First, there has to be a design that is sent to congress for approval. Next, congress passes a law that tells the mint to make the coin. In the past, each different coin stamp was sculpted by hand and then used to stamp the design on sheets of metal that have already been rolled out to the perfect thickness. Today, instead of being made by hand, the models are digitally designed by a computer. The next time you look at a coin, take time to look at the artwork on it. You can also tell where a coin was minted by the mint mark, or the letter stamped into the design – S is San Francisco, D for Denver and P for Philadelphia.

When coins are being used, they are in circulation. They begin their life at a mint, then they are sent to a bank. The bank gives them to customers and businesses and people use them to pay for stuff. As coins get used, they start to wear down. Eventually they become so damaged or worn that they aren’t useful any more. When that happens, the old coins are retired and sent back to the Federal Reserve where they are melted down. The metal is then used to make more coins or other things.