Why were so many coins minted at San Francisco during World War II?
Although Philadelphia set most of the production records during the war years, San Francisco out-produced Denver in many instances because of the large military payrolls and the concentration of defense industry on the West Coast, which increased the demand for coins. Coins were also shipped as far east as Chicago to meet the demand. Wasn’t there some kind of a mysterious fire at the New Orleans Mint in 1893? A fire occurred in the cashier’s vault at the New Orleans Mint while it was closed for the weekend in June of 1893. The cashier, J.M. Dowling, claimed that $25,000 in paper money was destroyed. A government expert identified $1,182 in charred currency. The belief was that the cashier had set the fire to hide a shortage in his funds, but when he was arrested and tried, he was acquitted of the charge of embezzlement. Address questions to Coin Clinic, Numismatic News, 700 E. State St., Iola, WI 54990. Because of space limitations, we are unable to publish all questions. Include a loo
