Editing Dahlonega, Georgia (section)

== The Dahlonega Branch Mint ==
[[File:Gold-rare08-2-96b.jpg|thumb|Historic specimen of high-grade gold ore from the Dahlonega mines]] 
Due to the abundance of gold which was discovered in North Georgia, the United States Treasury Department decided to build a branch mint in Dahlonega. This allowed local miners a place to bring their gold deposits in exchange for hard currency.  The Dahlonega [[branch mint]] was built in 1838 and operated from 1838 to 1861.  The [[Dahlonega Mint]], like the one also established in 1838 in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]], minted only gold coins, in denominations of $1.00, $2.50 ([[quarter eagle]]), $3.00 (1854 only) and $5.00 ([[half eagle]]). It was cost-effective in consideration of the economics, time, and risk of shipping gold to the main mint in [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania. The Dahlonega Mint was a small operation, usually accounting for only a small fraction of the gold coinage minted annually in the US.

In 1861, when the Civil War began, the mint closed due to lack of materials and manpower. After the war the U.S. government decided against re-opening the facility.  By then, the U.S. government had established a mint in [[San Francisco]]. Given the large amount of gold discovered in [[California]] from the late 1840s on, the San Francisco and Philadelphia mints handled the national needs of coin minting. As a result, surviving Dahlonega coinage is today highly prized in American [[numismatics]].

'''The University of North Georgia'''

After the end of the Civil War in 1865, the Dahlonega Branch mint remained closed. The building served as a barracks for US troops garrisoned here, and as a school for freed black students. In 1871, Hon. William P. Price, who had been elected to Congress from Dahlonega, petitioned the government to re-purpose the vacant mint building into a college. In 1873, the newly founded North Georgia Agricultural College, opened its doors from the ashes of the original Dahlonega Branch Mint.  Over the years as the college grew, the names have changed from the original North Georgia Agricultural College, North Georgia College, North Georgia College and State University and the current designation as the University of North Georgia.