Prediction: Witter to buy San Francisco Mint

U1chicago

What better way to solve the issue than a public-private partnership with someone like Witter Coin purchasing the San Francisco Mint? There could still be a contract to produce certain coins and then the rest of the time could be spent making private issues and other special editions. There could be potential for mystery boxes and maybe a grading company can be a partner too-offering to slab coins right as they come off the presses.

yosclimber

Nah, I think you overestimate the assets of Witter Coin.
The DOGE theory was to sell the land to build housing. It's valuable land.

MsMorrisine

i'll clean up before the sale

CRHer700

Dan Carr should buy it.

Maywood

@yosclimber said: The DOGE theory was to sell the land to build housing. It's valuable land.

That “theory” was put forth by someone blinded by greed and absent a sense of History. The Mint lies somewhere between invaluable and priceless.

U1chicago

@CRHer700 said:
Dan Carr should buy it.

Maybe the Denver Mint for Carr.

mr1931S

@Maywood said:
@yosclimber said: The DOGE theory was to sell the land to build housing. It's valuable land.

That “theory” was put forth by someone blinded by greed and absent a sense of History. The Mint lies somewhere between invaluable and priceless.

Absent sense of History or ignorant about history all too common among coin collectors these days.

U1chicago

@Maywood said:
@yosclimber said: The DOGE theory was to sell the land to build housing. It's valuable land.

That “theory” was put forth by someone blinded by greed and absent a sense of History. The Mint lies somewhere between invaluable and priceless.

The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed in all of its forms. Greed for life, money, love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind, and greed – you mark my words – will not only save the San Francisco Mint, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.

coinkat

Greed should not define who we are and not everything is or should be for sale.

WQuarterFreddie

@U1chicago said:

@Maywood said:
@yosclimber said: The DOGE theory was to sell the land to build housing. It's valuable land.

That “theory” was put forth by someone blinded by greed and absent a sense of History. The Mint lies somewhere between invaluable and priceless.

The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed in all of its forms. Greed for life, money, love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind, and greed – you mark my words – will not only save the San Francisco Mint, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.

Greed is not good. I had to refrain from posting the definition of greed but look up the definition and learn the meaning of the word.🙄

logger7

Avarice can ruin everything. "...a man well supplied with money may often be destitute of the bare necessities of subsistence, yet it is anomalous that wealth should be of such a kind that a man may be well supplied with it and yet die of hunger, like the famous Midas in the legend, when owing to the insatiable covetousness of his prayer all the viands served up to him turned into gold."https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0058:book=1:section=1257b

Maywood

@WQuarterFreddie:
greed --- noun
intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food.

Greed is known as one of the "seven deadly sins" which has plagued mankind throughout his history. It marches in the parade with the other six, right behind the flag bearer, Pride.

erscolo

If it saves the taxpayer money, sell it. In the end it is a building, and this planet has quite a few buildings in various states of repair. There are a large number of buildings the government leases or owns that are underutilized. Find them and dispose of them.

JBK

The attempts to twist around the poster's greed comment is a distraction. If you don't like the word "greed" then replace it with "lust" or "commitment" etc. A relentless drive for an admirable goal is the point being made.

As for the SF Mint, it was already closed once before as previously mentioned. Other mints have been closed over the past 150 years. If people want to preserve the building as an historical landmark then they can buy it or lobby the city/state to buy it.

Maybe it should just stay as is - an active mint. That's the purpose of the review. I'd be sorry to see it go if it closed but my personal nostalgia about it really shouldn't be a deciding factor.

Maywood

What is the admirable goal being driven for??

JBK

@Maywood said:
What is the admirable goal being driven for??

The poster gave all sorts of examples: life, money, love, knowledge. I'll add freedom to that list. Our forefathers' and our veterans' commitment to it was so great that they risked or even gave their lives for it.

In the case of the SF Mint review the goal is cost cutting and efficiency. Since it's our money the government is spending I'm pretty pleased that for once they are focusing on such things.

I'd be very happy if they found reasons to keep it open but a blind desire to maintain the status quo is not a sound policy. Let the SF Mint earn it's continuation, which hopefully it can do.

ColonelKlinck

https://youtu.be/RWsx1X8PV_A?si=yBTbtoGr8thhlPn7

Maywood

I will leave one last thought because the entire premise of the thread tippy toes into the political realm. Greed in all it's forms is based on one things, fear. More to the point, fear of not having that thing which greed drives us to hoarding. And make no mistake about it, if you believe the point of all this DOGE business, up to and including the sale of the Old San Francisco Mint, is about saving America money, then you aren't paying attention.

The Sn Francisco Mint should be saved, it is a historical building of great importance. That most Americans don't understand that does not make it unimportant.

It's an interesting discussion but not right for here and I have to beg off. Stay safe.

U1chicago

@JBK said:
The attempts to twist around the poster's greed comment is a distraction. If you don't like the word "greed" then replace it with "lust" or "commitment" etc. A relentless drive for an admirable goal is the point being made.

As for the SF Mint, it was already closed once before as previously mentioned. Other mints have been closed over the past 150 years. If people want to preserve the building as an historical landmark then they can buy it or lobby the city/state to buy it.

Maybe it should just stay as is - an active mint. That's the purpose of the review. I'd be sorry to see it go if it closed but my personal nostalgia about it really shouldn't be a deciding factor.

I don’t even think there is any greed, I just figured it was a good chance to use a famous quote.

Some things make sense to keep even if there is a loss involved but to blindly react with emotion is a big issue. There should be a reasonable review of anything that can perform better, especially when all of our hard earned money is funding it.

MrScience

She's a beauty! /sarc

JBK

@U1chicago said:

@JBK said:
The attempts to twist around the poster's greed comment is a distraction. If you don't like the word "greed" then replace it with "lust" or "commitment" etc. A relentless drive for an admirable goal is the point being made.

As for the SF Mint, it was already closed once before as previously mentioned. Other mints have been closed over the past 150 years. If people want to preserve the building as an historical landmark then they can buy it or lobby the city/state to buy it.

Maybe it should just stay as is - an active mint. That's the purpose of the review. I'd be sorry to see it go if it closed but my personal nostalgia about it really shouldn't be a deciding factor.

I don’t even think there is any greed, I just figured it was a good chance to use a famous quote.

Some things make sense to keep even if there is a loss involved but to blindly react with emotion is a big issue. There should be a reasonable review of anything that can perform better, especially when all of our hard earned money is funding it.

That's what I figured. I was surprised so many others couldn't figure it out.

JBK

@Maywood said:
I will leave one last thought because the entire premise of the thread tippy toes into the political realm. Greed in all it's forms is based on one things, fear. More to the point, fear of not having that thing which greed drives us to hoarding. And make no mistake about it, if you believe the point of all this DOGE business, up to and including the sale of the Old San Francisco Mint, is about saving America money, then you aren't paying attention.

Oh I'm paying plenty of attention. I am well aware of some of the unthinkable waste that has been uncovered so far. Let's hope the SF Mint doesn't end up in that category

The Sn Francisco Mint should be saved, it is a historical building of great importance. That most Americans don't understand that does not make it unimportant.

So, if it turns out that the SF Mint is a waste of taxpayers' money, it should still be kept open because of its history? That might be a reason to preserve the building, but not necessarily the minting operations.

Once again, I'd be very happy if it survives as a Mint, but it should be for the right reasons.

yosclimber

@Maywood said:
I will leave one last thought because the entire premise of the thread tippy toes into the political realm. Greed in all it's forms is based on one things, fear. More to the point, fear of not having that thing which greed drives us to hoarding. And make no mistake about it, if you believe the point of all this DOGE business, up to and including the sale of the Old San Francisco Mint, is about saving America money, then you aren't paying attention.

The Sn Francisco Mint should be saved, it is a historical building of great importance. That most Americans don't understand that does not make it unimportant.

It's an interesting discussion but not right for here and I have to beg off. Stay safe.

It seems there is some confusion on which SF Mint I meant.
I was not talking about the "Old San Francisco Mint" (1874-1937), aka the "Granite Lady".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_San_Francisco_Mint
The federal government does not own that property anymore. It was sold to the city of SF for $1 in 2003.

I was talking about the current SF Mint (1937-now), photo above.

WQuarterFreddie

@Maywood said:
@WQuarterFreddie:
greed --- noun
intense and selfish desire for something, especially wealth, power, or food.

Greed is known as one of the "seven deadly sins" which has plagued mankind throughout his history. It marches in the parade with the other six, right behind the flag bearer, Pride.

I know what it means. You missed my point entirely.

mr1931S

@U1chicago said:

@Maywood said:
@yosclimber said: The DOGE theory was to sell the land to build housing. It's valuable land.

That “theory” was put forth by someone blinded by greed and absent a sense of History. The Mint lies somewhere between invaluable and priceless.

The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed in all of its forms. Greed for life, money, love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind, and greed – you mark my words – will not only save the San Francisco Mint, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.

Nah. The emperor golfs while Rome burns. Greed worked when America was being built by Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Morgan and Ford. This new breed of greed coming some 150 years after the Industrial Revolution is unsustainable.

Steven59

Turn it into a museum like the Carson City Mint if it has to be closed.

SIowhand

@yosclimber said:

The federal government does not own that property anymore. It was sold to the city of SF for $1 in 2003.

The feds missed out. I’d have gone at least twice that.

SanctionII

If the SF mayors and Boards of Supervisors since 2003 have given any thought to the old SF Mint (doubtful), I wonder what their thought was?

Homeless shelter, migrant shelter, addiction center or other similar thing?

yosclimber

@SanctionII said:
If the SF mayors and Boards of Supervisors since 2003 have given any thought to the old SF Mint (doubtful), I wonder what their thought was?

Homeless shelter, migrant shelter, addiction center or other similar thing?

The wikipedia article I linked says this about events at the Old SF Mint since 2003:

In 2003 the federal government sold the structure to the City of San Francisco for one dollar—an 1879 silver dollar struck at the mint— for use as a historical museum. It was to be called the San Francisco Museum at the Mint.

In the fall of 2005, ground was broken for renovations to adapt the central court as a glass-enclosed galleria. In 2006 Congress created the San Francisco Old Mint Commemorative Coin, the first coin to honor a United States mint (Pub. L. 109–230 (text) (PDF)). The first phase of renovations was completed in 2011.

Current status
In 2014, the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society began raising money for the second phase, to include permanent exhibitions. In 2015, the City of San Francisco looked for a new tenant to renovate and program the space. The organization, Activate San Francisco Events, was chosen as an interim tenant.[9]

In 2016 to celebrate the public re-opening, on the first weekend in March, the Old Mint hosted a "San Francisco History Days" event; more than 60 historic organizations participated.[10] Until a new tenant is found, the Old Mint will continue to be used for special events, some open to the public. In April 2016, the California Historical Society agreed to undertake restoration of the building and its preservation as a public space.[11]

I recall the building was thought to need expensive seismic retrofitting, which was why it was sold for so cheap.
But I don't see this mentioned in the wikipedia article at present.