Editing Assay office (section)

== US assay offices ==
Title 15, Chapter 8, Section 291 of the [[United States Code]] makes it unlawful to stamp goods in the United States with "United States [[Metallurgical assay|assay]]" or any similar stamp which gives the impression that the item has been officially assayed by the [[United States government]].

=== General overview and function of U.S. assay offices ===
Assay offices did and do exist in the U.S.,<ref name="treas.gov">{{Cite web |url=http://www.treas.gov/education/fact-sheets/currency/prod-facilities.shtml |title=U.S. Treasury - Fact Sheet on the Mint and Other Coin Production Facilities of the U.S. Government<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2007-05-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070603223507/http://www.treas.gov/education/fact-sheets/currency/prod-facilities.shtml |archive-date=2007-06-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref> but they are affiliated with the government's coinage mints and serve only the government's purposes in that field. They are not involved in [[hallmark]]ing, as there has never been a hallmarking scheme in the U.S.

In the 1800s, the functions of assay offices in the U.S. included receiving bullion deposits from the public and from mining prospectors in the various American territories. The assay offices that still operate today function solely within national coining system (including bullion coinage for sales to investors).

=== US assay offices, current ===
Current U.S. assay offices include the following:<ref name="treas.gov"/>

* The [[Philadelphia Mint]] – 1792 to date
* The [[Denver Mint]] – 1862 to date. It served as an assay office until 1906, when coinage operations began.
* The [[San Francisco Mint]] – 1852 to date. Coinage operations were suspended in March 1955, but the plant continued to operate as an assay office. In 1962, its official designation was changed from mint to assay office. Coinage operations were again authorized in 1965.
* The [[West Point Mint|West Point, New York Bullion Depository]] – 1938 to date. It is operated as an adjunct of the New York Assay Office.

=== US assay offices, historical ===
* The Charlotte, North Carolina Mint – 1835 to 1861. After the Civil War, the plant was reopened in 1868 as an assay office until 1913, when it was ultimately closed.
* The New Orleans, Louisiana Mint – 1835 to 1942. Coinage operations were conducted here from 1838, but were suspended from 1861 until 1879; assay functions were performed from 1876. Coinage resumed in 1879 and continued until 1909. The facility operated as an assay office from 1909 until 1942, when it was closed.
* The U.S. Assay Office, St. Louis, Missouri – 1881 to 1911
* The U.S. Assay Office, Helena, Montana – 1874 to 1933
* The U.S. Assay Office, Salt Lake City, Utah – 1909 to 1933
* The U.S. Assay Office, Deadwood, South Dakota – 1898 to 1927
* The [[Assay Office (Boise, Idaho)|U.S. Assay Office, Boise, Idaho]] – 1869 to 1933
* The [[32 Old Slip|U.S. Assay Office, New York, New York]] – 1854 to 1982
* The U.S. Assay Office, Seattle, Washington – 1898 to 1955