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Dimes to dollars: Step into West Point's vault

Alex Taylor
artaylor@lohud.com
Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes; Dr. Peter Salk, president of the Jonas Salk Legacy Foundation; U.S. Treasurer Rosa Gumataotao Rios; and Aidan Lamonthe, 7, of Manchester, Connecticut, hold the commemorative edition of the 2015 March of Dimes silver dollar at the U.S. Mint at West Point on Wednesday.

WEST POINT –From a humble dime to billions in gold and silver bullion.

The massive steel doors of the West Point Mint swung open Wednesday morning for a rare tour and a ceremonial "first strike" of a silver dollar coin commemorating the 75th anniversary of the March of Dimes.

Squeezed between a ski slope and golf course on one side and the famed military academy on the other, the so-called "Fort Knox of Silver" is hidden in plain sight in a windowless building off Route 218.

Look a little closer, however, and you'll see that security is tight.

Barbed wire atop a 30-foot chain-link fence rings the building. Cameras peer down from practically every corner. Armed police escort visitors through a fluorescent-lit maze of metal detectors and checkpoints.

One of six U.S. mints, the one at West Point opened as a depository for silver and now specializes in commemorative coinage in gold, silver and platinum. Stashed in the vault is more than 55 million ounces of gold — or an estimated $6.3 billion of shiny bars.

Under the watchful eye of white-gloved workers Wednesday, Dr. Peter Salk, Jonas Salk's son, March of Dimes President Dr. Jennifer Howse and U.S. Treasurer Rosa Gumataotao Rios all had a chance to run the Grabener coin press.

Salk held one up, and it gleamed in the light.

"That was the easy part," he said, grinning.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, partially paralyzed by polio at the age of 39, established the March of Dimes in 1938 to help prevent the disease in America's children. Through a partnership of volunteers and researchers, the Salk polio vaccine was developed within 17 years.

The commemorative March of Dime coin contains the image of a baby’s head cradled in its parent’s hand.

Salk noted that 2015 marked the centenary of his father's birth and two other anniversaries: the 70th anniversary of Roosevelt's death and the 60th anniversary of the Salk vaccine, which ended the threat of polio epidemics in the U.S.

"This moment right now is a very potent one," he said.

Since then, March of Dimes has been funding research used to save babies from birth defects and premature birth. It also offers programs and emotional support to families who have sick and premature babies in neonatal intensive care units.

During Wednesday's hourlong tour, officials demonstrated the steps involved in minting coins, from stamping to polishing to packaging.

Measuring an inch-and-a-half in diameter and weighing 26.7 grams, the commemorative March of Dime coin is 90 percent silver.

The images of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dr. Jonas Salk are on the other side of the March of Dimes dollar.

The profiles of Roosevelt and Salk are on one side and the image of a baby in its parent's hand on the other.

Production will be limited to 500,000 coins. Prices will be $46.95 for the "presentation quality" proof, with $10 going to help support the March of Dimes Foundation. Coins can be purchased starting Friday at the U.S. Mint's website.

Near the end, plant manager Ellen McCullom led people into an unassuming storage room.

It held rows of 400-ounce bars of gold worth $1,537,713,013 at current prices stashed on pallets. Some are held as long-term assets. Others are sold on the open market.

"Anything you see is going to move," she said. "But if there's a tenth of an ounce missing, the whole gang looks at one another and says, 'Plan for a long night.' Because we're going to go through the safes until we find it."

Twitter: @alextailored