page_title: Museo Nacional de las Culturas
section_title: Colonial era mint
hierarchical_section_title: Museo Nacional de las Culturas / Colonial era mint
caption_attribution_description: English: Facade of the National Museum of Cultures located on Moneda Street in Mexico City's historic center
context_page_description: The Museo Nacional de las Culturas is a national museum in Mexico City dedicated to education about the world's cultures, both past and present. It is housed in a colonial-era building that used to be the mint for making coins. Prior to this, the site was the home of the location of the Moctezuma's Black House. The mint was moved to Apartado Street in 1850, and the building was used for various purposes until it was converted to its current use in 1966.
context_section_description: Originally, minting operations were based in the city hall. However, due to the increased prosperity of the colony and the need for more coin production, minting operations were moved here in 1731. The mint's director at the time, Nicolás Peinado, was also an architect and made the initial plans. Worked was carried out by Pedro de Arrieta and Lorenzo Rodríguez. However, problems with the remodeling surfaced, resulting in the viceroy naming Jose Eduardo de Herrera to take over, and Peinado ended up in jail. The remodeling was finally completed by Luis Diez Navarro.
  This mint is responsible for the name of the street on which it is located, called Moneda, which means "coin". The building was again expanded between 1772 and 1779 by Miguel Constanzó, Lorenzo Rodriguez, and Jose Damian Ortiz de Castro.
caption: Facade of the museum/mint building
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