Assay Office
United States
The Assay Office is a historic building at 210 Main Street in Boise, Idaho. It is significant for its role in the history of mining in Idaho, and was the first major federal government building in the Idaho Territory. During the first half of the 1860s, Idaho's gold production was the third highest in the nation. Due to the difficulty of transporting ores, which can be heavy, the long distance to the nearest U.S. Mint in San Francisco, there was great demand for an assaying office in Idaho that would be able to separate precious metals from impurities in them, helping to place a value on ores that went through the office.
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