Director of the United States Mint

Last updated
Director of United States Mint
Ventris C. Gibson, U.S. Mint Deputy Director.jpg
Incumbent
Ventris Gibson
since June 22, 2022
Appointer President of the United States
Term length 5 years
FormationApril 1792
First holder David Rittenhouse
Seal of the United States Mint. Seal of the United States Mint.svg
Seal of the United States Mint.

The director of the United States Mint is the chief officer of the United States Mint. It is a presidential appointment that requires a Senate confirmation. The incumbent is Ventris Gibson, who became director of the Mint on June 22, 2022, after serving in acting capacity.

Contents

When the position of the director is vacant, the senior career (non-political) official of the mint serves as the acting director. Until the appointment of Ryder as director, the Mint had been without an official director since the resignation of Edmund C. Moy in 2011. Richard A. Peterson succeeded Moy. Peterson served between January 2011 and March 2017. The longest serving director was Nellie Ross. Ross, who had earlier been the first female governor in American history while serving the state of Wyoming, was director from 1933 until 1953.

In July 2015, Matthew Rhett Jeppson was nominated by President Barack Obama to become the Mint's 39th director and was given the temporary title of principal deputy director. However, the nomination was never confirmed by the Senate. Jeppson stepped down as principal deputy director in January 2017, then replaced by acting principal deputy director David Motl.

The office of director has existed since the creation of the Mint by the Coinage Act of 1792. Initially appointed serving at the pleasure of the president of the United States, the Coinage Act of 1873 specified a five-year term for directors. The director operates with general directions provided by the United States Secretary of the Treasury.

List of directors of the United States Mint

No.ImageNameTenureAppointed by
Assumed officeLeft office
1 1814 DavidRittenhouse Polyanthos.png David Rittenhouse April 1792June 1795 Washington
2 Henry William DeSaussure.JPG Henry William de Saussure July 1795October 1795
3 EliasBoudinot.jpg Elias Boudinot October 1795July 1805
4 Robert Patterson (page 172 crop).jpg Robert Patterson January 1806July 1824 Jefferson
5 Samuel moore.jpg Samuel Moore July 1824July 1835 Monroe
6 Robert Maskell Patterson.jpg Robert Maskell Patterson May 1835July 1851 Jackson
7 George N. Eckert.jpg George Nicholas Eckert July 1851April 1853 Fillmore
8 Thomas M. Pettit April 1853May 1853 Pierce
9 JamesRossSnowden.JPG James Ross Snowden June 1853May 1861
10 JamesPollock.JPG James Pollock May 1861September 1866 Lincoln
11 William Millward October 1866April 1867 Johnson
12 Ca1865-1880-LOC-Hon-H-R-Linderman-single-portrait.jpg Henry Linderman April 1867May 1869
13 JamesPollock.JPG James Pollock May 1869March 1873 Grant
14 Ca1865-1880-LOC-Hon-H-R-Linderman-single-portrait.jpg Henry Linderman April 1873December 1878
15 HoratioCBurchard.jpg Horatio C. Burchard February 1879June 1885 Hayes
16 James P. Kimball July 1885October 1889 Cleveland
17 Edward O Leech.jpg Edward O. Leech October 1889May 1893 Harrison
18 Preston medal.png Robert E. Preston November 1893February 1898 Cleveland
19 George Evan Roberts in 1917.jpg George E. Roberts February 1898July 1907 McKinley
20 Frank A Leach.jpg Frank A. Leach September 1907August 1909 Roosevelt, T.
21 Abram Piatt Andrew 1909.jpg A. Piatt Andrew November 1909June 1910 Taft
22 George Evan Roberts in 1917.jpg George E. Roberts July 1910November 1914
23 Robert W. Woolley on the phone.jpg Robert W. Woolley March 1915July 1916 Wilson
24 Von engelken.png Friedrich Johannes Hugo von Engelken September 1916March 1917
25 BAKER, RAY LCCN2016859478.jpg Raymond T. Baker March 1917March 1922
26 Frank Edgar Scobey.jpg Frank Edgar Scobey March 1922September 1923 Harding
27 Robert J. Grant, Supt. of the Denver Mint, has been appt. by Pres. to be Dir. of the mint succeeding F.E. Scobey LCCN2016892799 (cropped).tif Robert J. Grant November 1923May 1933 Coolidge
28 PrNellieRoss.jpg Nellie Tayloe Ross May 3, 1933April 1953 Roosevelt, F.
29 William H. Brett July 1954January 1961 Eisenhower
30 Eva Adams medal.jpeg Eva Adams October 1961August 1969 Kennedy
31 Mary Brooks (cropped).jpg Mary Brooks September 1969February 1977 Nixon
32 Stella Hackel.JPG Stella Hackel Sims November 1, 1977April 1, 1981 Carter
33 Donna Pope - 51st District - Ohio House of Representatives 109th General Assembly - DPLA - 5586be78567b1fe89fca76f0a79cfcb8 (page 10) (cropped).jpg Donna Pope September 10, 1981August 1991 Reagan
34 David J. Ryder official photo (cropped).jpg David J. Ryder September 1992November 24, 1993 Bush Sr.
35 Philip N. Diehl June 1994March 2000 Clinton
36 Jaywjohnson.gif Jay W. Johnson May 2000August 2001
37 Henrietta H Fore.jpg Henrietta H. Fore August 2001August 2, 2005 Bush Jr.
38 Edmund moy treasury 985.jpg Edmund C. Moy September 5, 2006January 9, 2011
Richard A. Peterson (Mint).jpg Richard A. Peterson January 2011March 2017 Obama
39 David J. Ryder official photo (cropped).jpg David J. Ryder April 12, 2018October 1, 2021 Trump
40 Ventris C. Gibson, U.S. Mint Deputy Director.jpg Ventris Gibson June 22, 2022Incumbent Biden

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Attorney General</span> Head of the United States Department of Justice

The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all legal matters. The attorney general is a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coinage Act of 1873</span> Revision of the laws relating to the Mint of the United States

The Coinage Act of 1873 or Mint Act of 1873 was a general revision of laws relating to the Mint of the United States. By ending the right of holders of silver bullion to have it coined into standard silver dollars, while allowing holders of gold to continue to have their bullion made into money, the act created a gold standard by default. It also authorized a Trade dollar, with limited legal tender, intended for export, mainly to Asia, and abolished three small-denomination coins. The act led to controversial results and was denounced by critics as the "Crime of '73".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Deputy Secretary of Defense</span> Second highest-ranking DoD official

The deputy secretary of defense is a statutory office and the second-highest-ranking official in the Department of Defense of the United States of America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Mint</span> Government agency that produces circulating coinage for the United States

The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. The U.S. Mint is one of two U.S. agencies that produce money in the case of minting coinage; the other is the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which prints paper currency. The first United States Mint was created in Philadelphia in 1792, and soon joined by other centers, whose coins were identified by their own mint marks. There are currently four active coin-producing mints: Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, and West Point.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Director of National Intelligence</span> US Cabinet-level government official

The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is a senior cabinet-level United States government official, required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to serve as executive head of the United States Intelligence Community (IC) and to direct and oversee the National Intelligence Program (NIP). All IC agencies report directly to the DNI. The DNI also serves, upon invitation, as an advisor to the president of the United States, the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council on all intelligence matters. The DNI, supported by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), produces the President's Daily Brief (PDB), a classified document including intelligence from all IC agencies, handed each morning to the president of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coinage Act of 1792</span> US legislation for a national currency and mint

The Coinage Act of 1792, passed by the United States Congress on April 2, 1792, created the United States dollar as the country's standard unit of money, established the United States Mint, and regulated the coinage of the United States. This act established the silver dollar as the unit of money in the United States, declared it to be lawful tender, and created a decimal system for U.S. currency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Director of the Central Intelligence Agency</span> Head of the Central Intelligence Agency

The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA) is a statutory office that functions as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, which in turn is a part of the United States Intelligence Community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seated Liberty dollar</span> United States silver dollar coin minted from 1840 to 1873

The Seated Liberty dollar was a dollar coin struck by the United States Mint from 1840 to 1873 and designed by its chief engraver, Christian Gobrecht. It was the last silver coin of that denomination to be struck before passage of the Coinage Act of 1873, which temporarily ended production of the silver dollar for American commerce. The coin's obverse is based on that of the Gobrecht dollar, which had been minted experimentally from 1836 to 1839. However, the soaring eagle used on the reverse of the Gobrecht dollar was not used; instead, the United States Mint (Mint) used a heraldic eagle, based on a design by late Mint Chief Engraver John Reich first utilized on coins in 1807.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flowing Hair dollar</span> Coin minted by the United States from 1794 to 1795

The Flowing Hair dollar was the first dollar coin issued by the United States federal government. The coin was minted in 1794 and 1795; its size and weight were based on the Spanish dollar, which was popular in trade throughout the Americas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmund C. Moy</span> Former director of US Mint, businessman

Edmund C. Moy is an American businessman and former government official. From 2006 to 2011, he served as the 38th Director of the United States Mint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation</span> Head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a United States federal law enforcement agency, and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The FBI director is appointed for a single 10-year term by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. The FBI is an agency within the Department of Justice (DOJ), and thus the director reports to the attorney general of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Poneman</span> American business executive and scholar

Daniel Bruce Poneman is an American business executive and former government official. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Centrus Energy, a publicly traded energy company, (LEU) from 2015 to 2023. Prior to joining Centrus Energy, he served as United States Deputy Secretary of Energy from 2009 to 2014. He is also a Distinguished Fellow at the Paulson Institute at the University of Chicago and a Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. Poneman was Acting Secretary of Energy in 2013 following the resignation of Steven Chu until Ernest Moniz was confirmed and sworn in.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas E. McNamara</span> American diplomat

Thomas E. "Ted" McNamara is a United States diplomat and State Department official.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy</span> Position in the U.S. Navy

The Chief of Chaplains of the United States Navy (CHC) is the highest-ranking military chaplain in the United States Navy and head of the United States Navy Chaplain Corps. As part of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations and Department of the Navy, the CHC is dual-hatted as the Director of Religious Ministries (N097) under OPNAV. In these capacities, the CHC is the principal advisor to the secretary of the Navy, the chief of naval operations and, where appropriate, the commandant of the Marine Corps and commandant of the Coast Guard "on all matters pertaining to religion within the Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard." For administrative and personnel matters, the CHC reports to the chief of naval personnel.

The Chief Engraver of the United States Mint is the highest staff member at the United States Mint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998</span> 1998 United States law

The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 is a United States federal statute establishing the procedure for filling vacancies in an appointed office of an executive agency of the government before the appointment of a permanent replacement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Eckfeldt</span> Second chief coiner of the United States Mint

John Adam Eckfeldt was a worker and official during the first years of the United States Mint. A lifelong Philadelphian, Eckfeldt served as the second chief coiner of the Mint, from 1814 until 1839.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Assay Commission</span> Agency of the US government (1792–1980)

The United States Assay Commission was an agency of the U.S. federal government from 1792 to 1980. Its function was to supervise the annual testing of the gold, silver, and base metal coins produced by the United States Mint to ensure that they met specifications. Although some members were designated by statute, for the most part the commission, which was freshly appointed each year, consisted of prominent Americans, including numismatists. Appointment to the Assay Commission was eagerly sought after, in part because commissioners received a commemorative medal. These medals, different each year, are extremely rare, with the exception of the 1977 issue, which was sold to the general public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coinage Act of 1853</span>

The Coinage Act of 1853, 10 Stat. 160, was a piece of legislation passed by the United States Congress which lowered the silver content of the silver half dime, dime, quarter dollar, and half dollar, and authorized a three dollar gold piece. Although intending to stabilize the country's silver shortage, it, in effect, pushed the United States closer to abandoning bimetallism entirely and adopting the gold standard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ventris Gibson</span> American government official

Ventris C. Gibson is an American government official serving as the director of the United States Mint. She previously served as deputy director of the Mint from October 2021 until her confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

References