This is the sixth and last in the series of the author’s travelogue on Australia. He visited the mint in Perth, the capital of Western Australia, in the second week of October 2011. This article describes his experience of this visit and his participation in the guided tour offered to the visitors of this tourist attraction in Western Australia.
The conducted tour of the mint proved to be informative and interesting. The tour guide, a young man with a pleasant demeanor, briefly told us the history and present activities of the mint.
One of the oldest functioning mints in the world, the mint started its operation in1899 as a branch of the Royal mint in London. It refined gold and manufactured the gold currency for the colony. Gold had been discovered in Kalgoorlie, Coolgardie and Murchison. The federation of Australia came into being in 1901, but the mint continued to be owned by Britain till it was taken over by the government of Australia in 1970 and is now fully with the state of Western Australia.
Currently the mint refines gold and makes currency coins and ingots. It fashions various trinkets in gold and other precious metals, which were available for sale as souvenirs and ornaments. The author purchased for his wife a half penny 1949 with a Kangaroo in relief and made into a locket attached to a chain for wearing on the breast.
The tour guide fully demonstrated the operations of melting gold and pouring the melt to make a rectangular ingot. He took us to the area where we could observe through a glass window gold coins being made by operators. A weighing machine gives your weight and the value of your weight in gold.
The building that houses the mint has a cute, antique look, neither majestic nor mediocre, but with a charm of its own. A spacious ground surrounds the structure and wears a beautiful lawn.
In front of the building is a statue of two men finding gold. This adds some dynamism to the historic scene.
Altogether the visit to the Perth mint was a unique experience, informative, and educative.
Source: The author’s visit