Takaeva Collection, San Francisco

Old Mint presents a side view of San Francisco's historic building, The Old Mint, originally situated at 88 Fifth Street @ Mission.

From 1874 to 1937, San Francisco's Old Mint was the most active mint in the United States. It was built by Alfred Bult Mullett in 1874. Mullet's design 1874. Mullett's design was Classical Greek Revival, Doric columns and Roman scale and proportions. Sandstone from Newcastle Island in British Columbia was shipped in by three schooners for the facing of the upper floors and for the six colossal columns on the portico. The basement walls were of granite from the Griffith Quarry in Penryn, Placer County, California. On May 26, 1870, the cornerstone of the Mint was laid. The building opened on a rainy Saturday, November 5, 1874 and in 1877 over fifty-million dollars in coins were produced. Mullett knew well that the Pacific Coast was subject to earthquakes, and with remarkable foresight he designed the Old Mint to "float" on its foundations in an earthquake, rather than shatter. After the earthquake of 1906, the Old Mint was the only financial institution able to open for business in San Francisco and it became the depository and treasury for the city's relief fund. By the 1930s, one-third of the nations gold reserves were stored at the Old Mint. The Mint has been closed for over a decade, and is currently under renovation. It is projected to open as museum in the coming years.

Old Mint was first exhibited at Studio Gallery's group show titled City Streets, in August 2011 and was sold in December, 2011. This painting is featured in Araujo's book publication, SOMA RISING, in 2012.