James Curtis Booth (28 July 1810 – 21 March 1888) was an American chemist who was the melter and refiner at the United States Mint in Philadelphia for many years.

[2] Booth graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1829, and later studied at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York from 1831 to 1832.

[4] Booth assisted in the Geological Survey of Pennsylvania in 1836, making the discovery that the mountains that form the middle belt of that state consist of two separate formations.

[2] According to the Scientific American, a course in Booth's laboratory "was considered necessary for the chemist of that time, and was regarded of more value than a college diploma".

[1] While at the mint he designed a new form of wind furnace for melting the huge amount of gold being mined in California.