Templeton Reid, the guy who made Gainesville famous as the site of the first private mint in the United States, apparently was an eccentric tinker, inventor, entrepreneur and crack rifleman. His mint, which is commemorated by a historical marker on Gainesville’s downtown square, lasted only a few months, apparently collapsing under accusations that his gold pieces weren’t quite pure. Bill House, a Gainesville lawyer and coin connoisseur, told the story of the mint at a recent forum at Northeast Georgia History Center at Brenau University.
Local mint operator was a genius whom fortune eluded
