Perth August & December 2018 - Day 12

Perth: The Perth Mint

Introduction

Monday was our last day in Perth. We visited the Perth Mint in the morning then looked around the shops..

The Perth Mint

The Perth Mint was established in 1899 in response to the discovery of rich gold deposits in Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. (see The Perth Mint website) It was Australia's third branch of Britain's Royal Mint - the others being the Sydney Mint and the Melbourne Mint. Diggers, who flocked to the then colony of Western Australia in huge numbers deposited their raw gold with the Mint where it was refined and minted into gold coins. Gold refining was moved to a modern facility in Perth’s eastern suburbs in April 1990. The old Hay St site continues as a museum and as a mint of proof sets and other collector items.

We visited the Mint, looked over the impressive range of proof coins and other collectables and then toured the old site, viewed the modern presses stamping out coins and then a gold smelting and ingot pour demonstration. After that it was time for a coffee and muffin in their cafe.

Finding gold in front of the Perth Mint
Finding the value of your weight in gold - $4,957,470
Melting down gold ready to pour
Pouring the gold into the ingot mold
The empty crucible still glowing
The Kangaroo - 1 tonne of gold
The gold nugget muffin we indulged in after the Mint tour
The entry/exit to the Mint.

back button Back to previous day------------- forward button Forward to next day

Return to Trip Index

Last updated: 20/02/2019