Visiting The New Orleans Mint Museum

By Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez - July 20, 2021

The New Orleans Mint opened in 1838 and was among the first of three branch facilities established by the United States Mint that year. The New Orleans Mint, with its coins bearing an “O” mint mark, was by far the longest-lived and most productive of that trio of first branch mints, which also included a facility in Dahlonega, Georgia, and another in Charlotte, North Carolina; those latter two mints, situated near 1820s gold rush territory in the lower Appalachian Mountains, produced solely gold coinage. Meanwhile, the New Orleans Mint struck both gold and silver coins, doing so during a timeframe that spanned some 71 years.

*The New Orleans Mint building opened in 1838 as one of the first three branch facilities of the United States Mint. Courtesy of Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez. Click image to enlarge.*

A Quick History Lesson on the New Orleans Mint

It wasn’t seven straight decades of operation for the New Orleans Mint… In 1861, the United States Civil War saw occupation of the facility by Southern Rebels, who occupied all three mints in the South. The Confederates intended to make the New Orleans Mint a headquarters for coinage production in the Confederate States of America, for which New Orleans would have proven to be a strategically important city both in terms of its large population and major seaport.

*The New Orleans Mint as photographed circa 1890. Public domain image. Click image to enlarge.*

However, in 1862 Union forces reclaimed the New Orleans Mint building, which years later saw use as an assay office beginning in 1876 and returned to minting coins in 1879. Some 30 years later, in 1909, the last coins rolled off presses at the New Orleans Mint and the building was formally decommissioned as a mint in 1911. The assay operations shut down there in 1932 and the building served as a Federal prison until 1943, after which it became a storage site for the United States Coast Guard. The state of Louisiana took ownership of the building in 1965, with the building converted into a branch of the Louisiana State Museum in 1981 and serving a role as a museum of both New Orleans minting and coinage as well as jazz music – a cultural touchstone of the city known as “The Big Easy.”

What’s it Like to Visit the New Orleans Mint Museum?

The New Orleans Mint Museum offers three stories of attractions, including exhibits pertaining to the New Orleans Mint and its coinage on the first floor, several rooms showcasing collections of jazz history mostly confined to the second floor, and a theater for performing arts on the third. This New Orleans landmark is an absolute must-see attraction for any coin collector visiting the city, and not only because it offers a well-rounded body of numismatic material. It is the oldest existing structure to have served as a United States Mint facility.

These photographs capture some of the many great highlights of the New Orleans Mint Museum, including historic coin weights, a steam coin press, and a bullion cart. Courtesy of Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez. Click images to enlarge.

The New Orleans Mint Museum offers plenty for the numismatic historian to enjoy, including vintage coin weights and scales, bullion and minting equipment from the 19th century, a flywheel press, and a steam press as would have been used at the New Orleans Mint during its heyday. A self-guided tour of the New Orleans Mint is a breeze thanks to the many colorful, illustrative placards, educational signage, and vivid displays that help visually narrate what life at the New Orleans Mint was like.

Not to be missed is the massive collection of New Orleans Mint coinage, including Liberty Seated and Barber coins spanning the gamut of their series. Many of these coins are exceedingly rare and provide a great example of the coins that once poured out of the New Orleans Mint. Also serving as a spectacle for the eye is the mint building itself, which was designed by architect William Strickland in the Greek Revival motif and features a red brick façade and jack arch structural supports for each of the floors.

*The New Orleans Mint Museum offers a comprehensive collection of O-mint coinage. Courtesy of Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez. Click image to enlarge.*

Coin collectors might be inclined to think a visit at the New Orleans Mint Museum, more formally known as the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Old U.S. Mint, might represent something of a quick stop to see the coins and minting artifacts while forgoing the jazz exhibits. But not so fast! Even the most diehard numismatic fans might feel remiss bypassing the musical offerings at the United States Mint building. One need not be a jazz aficionado to appreciate relics of well-known artists such as Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino, and Louis Prima.

Among the music memorabilia you might find at the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Old U.S. Mint are a painting of famous jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, a Steinway piano once owned by singer-songwriter Fats Domino and virtually destroyed by floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and an ode to bandleader Louis Prima, whose artistic credits include voicing the musically inclined orangutan King Louie in the 1967 animated Disney feature film The Jungle Book. Courtesy of Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez. Click images to enlarge.

More Info About the Mint Museum in New Orleans

The New Orleans Mint Museum is located at 400 Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70116. The landmark is conveniently found just steps away from the French Market, where the world-famous Café Du Monde coffee and beignet shop is found in the French Quarter. Only a few blocks away are iconic sites that include Bourbon Street, Jackson Square, and St. Louis Cathedral.

*The main interior entrance to the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Old U.S. Mint. Courtesy of Joshua McMorrow-Hernandez. Click image to enlarge.*

Those interested in visiting the New Orleans building should check out the website for the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Old U.S. Mint. Be sure to plan ahead before visiting! Exhibits change on a fairly frequent basis and crowds can get thick during tourist season – especially in the days surrounding Mardi Gras, the massive annual parade held the Tuesday before Lent and that regularly draws hundreds of thousands of revelers.

Societies and Museums