Dave Lange writes:

This month's theme is provided by a brief sidebar article that ran in the July-August 1999 issue of Rare Coin Review, the house organ of what was then Bowers and Merena Galleries. It relates the dates on whichcoinage commenced at the Denver Mint for each denomination from 1906-13. The editor of RCR did not know the provenance of this information, as it was simply found amidst a pile of other documents and letters, but it providesus now with some interesting trivia.

The Denver Mint was established April 26, 1862 when Congress approved the purchase of Clark, Gruber and Company of that city. This firm had coined gold pieces with its own stamp in 1860-61 and thus possessed the necessaryfacility and equipment. Denver, however, became a United States mint in name only, as it operated solely as a federal assay office for the next 40+ years. It was not until 1906 that the Denver Mint finally struck USA coinsin a large structure built for that purpose two years earlier.

Coining actually commenced October 28, 1905 with a commemorative token marking the mint's official opening. This piece was produced in both bronze and silver and measures 35mm, about the size of a double eagle. Oneside is plain, and the other states simply DENVER / 1905. The edge of these tokens is reeded. Bronze examples are fairly scarce, and the silver striking is genuinely rare.

The honor of being the first actual coin struck at the Denver Mint goes to the quarter dollar, production of which commenced February 15, 1906. Some 3,280,000 pieces would be coined by year's end, making this issueone that collectors easily can acquire in any grade shy of gem Mint State. The minting of dimes began almost two weeks later on February 27. This is another common, inexpensive issue, as more than four million were producedat Denver in 1906. The first half dollar fell from the coin press on March 2, and its yearly total was similar to that of the dime. All three of these coins bear Charles Barber's classical bust of Liberty, and they wouldmake a nice souvenir set that any collector can afford to build.

To read the complete article, see:
USA Coin Album: Scrapbook Gold - Part 4 (https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/4749/USA-Coin-Album/)

David Stone writes:

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
THE FIRST COINS OF THE DENVER MINT (http://www.coinbooks.org/v21/esylum_v21n18a15.html)