The San Francisco Mint

Beautiful venue! Must see.
The architecture is amazing. At every turn there is a beautiful detail to be noted.
The house team is amazing to work with.
They are helpful and will assist you in having your event go off without a hitch.
The New Years' Eve event was a smashing success.

While the space is beautiful, it is not a good venue for EDM shows. I saw Shiba San here and found the set-up subpar. Firstly, the acoustics suck in the courtyard and the music is way too loud no matter where you are in relation to the stage. This venue is too small to support such large numbers of patrons and it becomes difficult to navigate through the venue when it's busy. Bathroom situation is AWFUL here, you WILL wait in a long line and the doors to the stall in the men's restroom are so low that you can make eye contact with people standing in line while you use the restroom. Stop having edm events here.

Seriously, whT Can you say about a building survived the earthquake and fires of the early 1900's? It's cracks are beautiful, it's u even floors tell a story and the vintage bathrooms are complete with swinging shutters for doors.
The stairs to reach the entrance are no joke. A little steep and like 50 of them, I'm guessing. I loved the venue but there is a large, somewhat aggressive homeless population RIGHT IN FRONT . It's sad way to see such historical beauty and such abandonment of humanity collide.

I recently volunteered to help with set-up for a New Year's Eve party and was very impressed with this space. It's MASSIVE and gorgeous -- makes me wonder what the Mint was like when it was active and occupied by civil servants and actually making coins (or even as a museum).

The walls are super thick - so having different musical events in separate rooms has less sound bleed-over than you'd expect.

The bathrooms, however, could stand improvement. There are two bathrooms - ladies and gents - so the event company had to set up portolets out back which is not ideal for an evening event when one is dressed up and wearing hosiery and heels (probably no big deal for the guys).

Parking can be tough - there's the 4th and Mission garage just kitty-corner but it filled up on NYE before 9pm!

How can one not miss this grand stone building with its massive columns on the corner of 5th and Mission? This was the Old Mint that served as the San Francisco branch of the US Mint from 1857 to 1937 and was then designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961. Nicknamed The Granite Lady, it even survived the 1906 earthquake.

I've always been curious of the interior of this building and I was excited to finally get to see the inside for a Macallan scotch tasting event. The event was held in various large rooms and culminated in the large exterior courtyard. The event was held in the main level of the Mint and I was not able to see the upper and lower levels of the building, which probably had more details of the history of the structure as a Mint.

It's a grand building that's great for special events. Hopefully, I can be back for an event which enables me to see more of this historical structure.

I was here in November of 2014 for the Hendrick's Emporium of the Unusual event.

As an event venue, I think SF Old Mint is beautiful: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/sf-old-mint-san-francisco?select=J_TxD8n-we_0HOXFqIvH-Q#J_TxD8n-we_0HOXFqIvH-Q. Hendrick's use of the space was great. Each room had its own theme and drink. Very fun. My favorite area was the enclosed courtyard. They had a photo op out there with an old school bicycle, but I could imagine this being a great area to have drinks.

After the event we walked into an exhibit room with artifacts and tidbits about the old mint and SF. It was a nice way to wrap up the evening and remind us of the history of the building.

I wouldn't mind coming back to visit as the Old Mint building. I do love history. And who doesn't like a place where they use to make money?

The SF Mint is a gorgeous historical venue that will blow your mind away. I attended here with my boyfriend for his company holiday party in the winter. Though as what most people can see, this venue is perfect to use for wedding ceremonies as well. In the lobby, you can check in your coats for free. Depending on the event, you will need to be 21 & up due to open bar. Ultimately, the location is perfect for night-time occasions.

I went to the SF Old Mint because A. told me about it. It's on 5th Street @ Mission, SF. Go to the Main Entrance on 5th St - up the stairs & wait at the door. Someone will let you in at 12pm on certain dates. It was mentioned in at least 2 food blogs, I will help get the word out.

It's open for a few weekends. May 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30, 31. Other days they are Closed. Maybe in the future it will be open more often, not sure.

Cost: $10 non-member; $5 if member. CASH ONLY!

The exhibit they have now is: "From Earth to 5-Star: The Bay Area's Innovations in Farming & Food". I thought was just just ok. Lots of posters w/ nice photography and lots to read in small print. That's about it. There's a program or two that you can stay for included w/ admission.

When I went on Sat 5/15 it was 2pm: Marin French Cheese Company - this cheese company is in Petaluma and makes Brie, Camambert, & other cheese. They gave us lots of samples. I didn't stay for the 4pm: Farmer Jane: Women Changing The Way We Eat.

Tours of building: They have 3 different times for tours: 12:30p, 2p, or 3:45p. I went on the 12:30pm tour. Kristin Morris, Associate Curator, was our tour guide. She was Great. Tour was a little over 1hr. The Old Mint was where they made coins, so a factory now empty. Got to see Main floor & Vault. You can see the Vault on your own too, but better on tour.

Vault is just vaults - empty!! They used to have tons of silver dollars down there. Room w/ Joshua Hendy machine is neat to see - it's not suppose to be there, will be removed one day. It's the elephant of the Old Mint.

Rooms are pretty empty too. Courtyard was ok to see.

Not sure if other floors are open for looking around - didn't ask. Wanted to know if the Roof Garden was available to see - didn't ask.

Worth going maybe if you're interested. Hope they have more stuff to see in the future.

For more information, call (415) 537-1105 x100.

Website:
http://www.earthto5star.com/Earth_to_5_Star/Home.html

Comprehensive tour of the US Mint - the one featured on the Discovery Channel's "Underground Cities" or whatever that show was.....pretty cool to see where the country's supplies of gold & silver were stored, the vaults, the coins that had made impressions into the walls due to the volume of shtuff that was crammed in those vaults.

Our guide wasn't the best (his assistant was more knowledgeable) but he was very passionate about the Mint & coin collecting so couldn't fault him too much....plus, they're volunteers so we know they're in it for the love.

Interesting to learn how the bldg was completely made of metal - doorways, window frames, stairways, columns...everything.

Also it sits on a sand bed to it'll move w/ any earthquake & stay intact & b/c it's made of metal, it's fireproof & survived the great fires from the 1906 earthquake....too bad the section of the bldg that is crumbling was due to the CIA in the 1970s who took out the columns in the room & ruined the stability.

We were told it'll cost $100 MILLION to refurbish this bldg & get it "back up to code" so for now, they can only have 49 people in there at a time & the rooms are mostly gutted & rundown.

Such potential for a well-visited historical landmark!

We decided to come to the San Francisco Mint
on History Day. They had something interesting
in each room and also downstairs in the Vaults.
From genealogy, to historic walks in San Francisco,
Trains, information about the building of the Golden
Gate. There was something for all ages.