The original Carson City building is a formal balanced, sandstone block edifice, two stories high with a centrally located cupola. The sandstone blocks were quarried at the Nevada State Prison.

On March 3, 1862, Congress passed a bill establishing a branch mint in the territory of Nevada. The output of the Comstock Lode coupled with the high bullion transportation costs to San Francisco proved the necessity of a branch in Nevada.

From its opening in 1870 to the closing of the coin operations in 1893, coinage amounted to $49,274,434.30.