Interesting things I learned from my visit to the U.S. Mint today:
- They don’t make paper money at the mint. That’s for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
- Getting into the mint is more strict than getting through airport security: metal detector, x-ray machine, no food or drink, no weapons, no purses/bags, and no cameras/cellphones. There are police guards with guns everywhere, and lots of locked doors. This is because there’s millions of dollars of gold stored there.
- The Denver Mint runs entirely off of wind energy.
- The mint does not use tax dollars to function. They make collectible coins which are very popular. They get their revenue from selling the coins.
**If you want to go to the mint make sure you make a reservation a few weeks to months in advance, otherwise they won’t let you in.**
It was a pretty cool tour. I wish it had been longer though, so I could have looked at the awesome exhibits more in detail. They had lots of historic currency and minting equipment.
