Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Graduate of the Western University of Pennsylvania in 1873. Married Nora McMullen September 12, 1900. They had two children. President of Mellon National Bank until March 1921. He was one of the founders of the Aluminum Company of America.

Appointed Secretary of the Treasury by President Harding and served March 4, 1921, to February 12, 1932. His signature appears on Silver Certificates, series of 1928 and 1928-A; and Federal Reserve Notes, series of 1928, 1928-A and 1928-B. He approved the transfer of the Philadelphia Mint collection of numismatics to the national museum (Smithsonian) in Washington, D.C. He resigned to become ambassador to Great Britain February 5, 1932, to March 17, 1933.

In 1937 he donated an art collection valued at $25 million and $15 million in cash to build the National Gallery of Art.

He died in Southampton, Long Island, New York.

Mellon appears on a medal (USM 211) as one of the series for the Secretary of the Treasury. Dies were by John Ray Sinnock.

Mellon appears on the Assay Commission Medal for 1922 (AC-66). The dies were by George Morgan.

bio: ApCAB; BDEB; DAB; EAB; Failor; NCAB 28; WAB; WWWA-1