September 13, 2002
                                   Palo Alto, CA
Old Mint Task Force
c/o Hala Hijazi
San Francisco, CA

Dear Ms. Hijazi,

I heard recently that the Old Mint Task Force is
considering proposals for developing the Old San Francisco
Mint building.  I am extremely pleased that the Mayor's
Office of Economic Development has worked hard
towards reopening this great building, after
so many years of closure due to the quake damage.

I am writing to urge you to choose a proposal
which devotes a major portion of the building as
a Money and History Museum.  I visited the Old Mint
building in the 80s, prior to the quake, and it
was wonderful to see the exhibits of gold coins, and the
minting process (where one could "strike your own coin").
The quake damage and subsequent closure have been
frustrating.

I would have liked to take my children
to visit it, but we have had to settle for the exhibits
at the Bank of California and the Wells Fargo museum
instead.  The Bank of California exhibit is pretty good,
with its original gold nuggets, privately issued
gold coins from the period, scales, ingots, etc.
But it is quite small, not open on weekends, and
not well known.  To take my children there, we
have had to plan carefully to visit it on weekdays
that are school holidays.  The last time I went
there, with my wife, the Bank of California exhibit
room was closed, although they did have an exhibit
of items recovered from the U.S.S. Central America.

San Francisco needs to have a permanent and accessible
museum with exhibits of these pioneer gold coins
that are the surviving historical artifacts from
that "golden age".  The Old Mint building is the
natural and historic place to host this.
The role of the Old Mint buiding in the recovery
from the quake of 1906 is another interesting part
of history worth documenting there as well,
so it would fit with the "Money and History Museum"
theme very well.

Please keep up the good work on developing and
reopening the Old Mint building.  I hope it will
include a Money and History Museum as a central function.

Sincerely,

Clint Cummins
Palo Alto, CA  94303
email:  clint@stanford.edu