The San Francisco Mint: A Fortress Full of Money That Will Never Be Spent | Bay Curious 

Have you ever driven down Market St. in San Francisco and wondered what that big, imposing building behind the Safeway is?
It’s a big gray building sitting up on a hill, surrounded by high fences topped with barbed wire and cameras. Bay Curious listener Spencer Barton sees it on his his way to work, “It has very small windows,” he says, “It definitely looks government.”
Now Spencer wants to know: What is that big gray building?
It’s a U.S. Mint.
There are six U.S. Mints spread out across the country. Each branch has its own __ role. The Washington D.C. Mint holds the Mint headquarters, the West Point Mint makes gold bullion coins, the Fort Knox Mint has vast, heavily guarded gold reserves, while the Denver and Philadelphia Mints make the circulation coins you’d find in your pocket. San Francisco used to make circulation coins, but not anymore.
Learn more: www.kqed.org/news/11667314/th...