
A Book Review of a Mighty Fortress: The Stories Behind the 2nd San Francisco Mint
A Mighty Fortress: The Stories Behind the 2nd
San Francisco Mint by Richard G. Kelly and Nancy Y. Oliver is a great book
about the history of the San Francisco mint. This wonderful book begins by
talking about the Granite Lady, also known as the 2nd San Francisco
Mint in addition to a brief amount on the other active U.S. mints, the Denver
Mint, Philadelphia Mint, and West Point Mint. This book gives some context of
the time period surrounding the building of the San Francisco Mint before
diving into the construction of the mint. Then, the book details the scandal of
the mint, and how a mint clerk was accused of losing several thousand dollars.
In addition, this book talks about the security features of the mint that
prevented a "direct forceful robbery of the Granite Lady in its entire tenure as
an operating mint (Kelly and Oliver 50)." Next, the book talks about the coins
made here and the rarities of 1893 and 1894. Later in this book, the authors
wonderfully detail how coins went missing from the mint. I found it interesting
how the mint managed to survive the 1906
earthquake and fire that destroyed San Francisco. At the end of the book, it
talks about how the mint became a museum that closed and became abandoned. The
last pages list the superintendents of the 2nd San Francisco Mint.
All in all, this is a well-written book that I would recommend.
Comments
TheNumisMaster
Level 5
Ill check it out!
user_71530
Level 3
Sounds very interesting, I’ll think about getting a copy.
Ancient Collector
Level 4
Sounds like a great book. I shall have to find a copy. Also a very well written review.
Mike
Level 7
Sounds like a good one. The books we pick are important to us and how we interpret them. Thank. Yes I'm back in about ten days. So I was this and had to comment my friend. Thank you for you good wishes. Mike
Longstrider
Level 6
Sounds like a good read. Thanks
It's Mokie
Level 6
Sounds like a very interesting read, will have to look for this as the cold winter evenings invite cocoa and a good book.
1943penny
Level 4
nice, very well done!
Russ
Level 4
Yes