ROBBING THE DENVER MINT by Pam North While the Denver Mint has always had heavy security, attempts to steal some of its valuable assets were inevitable. Temptation got the better of James D. Clarke, on the evening of February 13, 1864. The young pay clerk stole about $37,000 in gold and notes, then purchased a horse and attempted a getaway to the east. A gold bar weighing about ten pounds proved to be so cumbersome to carry that he finally tossed it away in the area of what is now Cheesman Park; it was later found by two men who sawed it in half and attempted to sell it, at which point it was recovered for the Mint. It took six days for an impromptu posse of three men (one was the son of Clarke's boss) to catch up with the fleeing thief, who had somehow managed to lose his horse. Clarke was brought back to Denver, and all but about $4,500 was recovered with his capture. He was put in jail, but escaped, headed north and was at large again for a few days until caught and returned to Denver. At his subsequent trial, he was ordered to leave the Territory. With Indian uprisings and the Civil War warranting more serious attention, Denver simply wanted Clarke gone. The year 1920 saw a second robbery, again committed by an employee. Anodes of pure gold, seven inches by three inches by one inch in size, were produced during one phase of the minting of gold coins, and these were so valuable that the guards at the Mint were alerted to watch for possible theft. Several of the anodes, amounting to $80,000 were smuggled out of the building by Orville Harrington, an employee who lived in south Denver. His scheme was to bury the anodes in his back yard, then later explain that it was gold that he had extracted from his Victor mine. A fellow employee of Harrington tipped off Rowland Goddard, Supervisor of the United States Secret Service, however, and Goddard proceeded to keep Harrington under close surveillance, even following him to his home where he witnessed Harrington burying the anodes. All of the gold was recovered when Harrington was arrested for the theft. The newspapers had a field day with the event when they discovered the fact that Harrington had a wooden leg that they surmised could be hollowed out to hide the gold.  Harrington's artificial leg had no such cache, but the limp that resulted from his wearing the prosthesis caused a very convenient slump to the left, making his vest and coat hang loosely over the bulge of the pilfered anodes. Harrington was found guilty of the theft and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but he was paroled after serving 3 1/2 years of his term. A third robbery took place not inside the Mint, but rather in front, when a Federal Reserve Bank truck was the target of a daring heist. The Federal Reserve Bank had offices in the Interstate Trust Building at 16th and Lawrence Streets; their vaults were not adequate for large amounts of coins ]and currency, so the Mint stored their excess. On December 18, 1922, a transfer of $200,000, all in new $5 bills, from the Mint to the bank was planned. The two packages, each containing $100,000, were placed inside the truck, and just as it began to drive away, a black Buick pulled alongside and three men leaped out, firing buckshot. During the brief but bloody skirmish that killed a bank guard and wounded two of the robbers, the packages of bills were stolen, and the three bandits scrambled back into their automobile and sped off to the east on Colfax Avenue. Eighteen days later, the battered Buick was discovered in a garage on Gilpin Street, and the frozen body of one of the robbers was found in the front seat. The corpse was identified as Nicholas Trainor, alias J.S. Sloane, a member of the Harold Burns gang; he was buried at public expense after a funeral attended by a large number of women. Only a portion of the stolen money, $80,000, was recovered in St. Paul, and no charges were ever filed, although the crime was announced as solved in 1925, with no details released. Denver Police Chief A.T. Clark finally stated in 1934 that the five men and two women responsible for the crime were either deceased or serving time in prison. Despite the high level of security at the Denver Mint and the vast amount of gold held in its vaults, the public is welcome to take tours and view the step-by-step process of coinmaking. The turn-of-the-century building itself is historic and worth seeing. Colorado residents would find this an extremely interesting place to visit. Resource: The Denver Mint, by David J. Eitemiller. Accompanying photo is of the intermediate phase of the Denver Mint. Caption: Before its current home, the Denver mint was housed in the renovated Carl, Gruber & Company building at 16th and Market Streets from 1863 to 1904, and functioned as an assay office.