Denver mint tour?

Russell12

Heading to Denver this week, anyone know if the mint tour is worth it.

alefzero

Good question. That could be a nice side trip for me too. Not far from Voodoo Doughnut too (a weirdly fun stop in Denver).

golden

It was when I went in the mid-1990's.

TurtleCat

I’d be curious, too. I may be going to Denver next year and may try to stop by.

CaptHenway

I went there last year with a guy I knew from Chicago who was in town and wanted to see it.

I was a bit underwhelmed because I had floor tours with the ANA Summer Seminar students back in the late 1970s and early 80s where we got to stand next to running machinery with no protective covers on anything. You could watch the dies go up and down and run your hands through bins of just struck coins. The noise was deafening. It was glorious.

Now all of the presses are enclosed in metal boxes that greatly reduce the noise but completely hide the operations going on inside. The only indication that this is a coin press is the stream of coins coming out one end, into a catch box for a quick visual inspection before the batch is dumped onto a conveyor belt.

The exhibits up in the viewing area are nice, but I wish they had one of the tour guides carry a pair of coin dies that people could handle.

1630Boston

Here is some info about the tours, https://www.usmint.gov/about/mint-tours-facilities/denver/visiting-the-denver-mint
Interesting that empty water bottles are allowed ??

Permitted items:

A palm-sized wallet that fits in your pocket
Powered off cameras/cell phones. Photography is prohibited while on the tour
Umbrellas, walkers, wheelchairs
Empty water bottles
Medical items necessary for the safety and well-being of the visitor

Prohibited items include, but are not limited to:

Handbags, purses, fanny packs, tote bags, backpacks, packages, and bags
Food and drinks
Lighters and matches
Weapons, including pocket knives and personal protective devices such as pepper spray

Russell12

My wife cannot bring her purse?

SaorAlba

Yes, I would get there first thing in the morning to get tickets(they are free). I really enjoyed the tour when I was there in April. While you are at it the ANA museum is about an hour or so away in Boulder and it was well worth seeing also. At least the ANA museum allows you to take non-flash photos.

1630Boston

A short virtual tour

https://youtu.be/PdgyuucpVi4

cladking

I sure enjoyed it back in 1980 with one of the highlights being allowed to search through souvenir sets for varieties and Gems. At the time I didn't know almost every Denver half in the mint set would be scraped but I still picked up a few really nice half dollars. Some of the dimes were gorgeous too.

cladking

I should mention the guy told me he had never heard of anyone picking through souvenir sets before because they were just regular coins but it wasn't too unusual to allow customers to pick through collectors sets.

He mightta studied me as hard as I was studying the coins.

CaptHenway

@SaorAlba said:
Yes, I would get there first thing in the morning to get tickets(they are free). I really enjoyed the tour when I was there in April. While you are at it the ANA museum is about an hour or so away in Boulder and it was well worth seeing also. At least the ANA museum allows you to take non-flash photos.

The ANA Money Museum is in Colorado Springs, not Boulder. About 70 miles down I-25. Closed Mondays.

BLUEJAYWAY

@Russell12 said:
My wife cannot bring her purse?

Only if it is empty. That way you will have adequate room for coin "sample's".

BLUEJAYWAY

@1630Boston said:
A short virtual tour

https://youtu.be/PdgyuucpVi4

Thanks for the link. I enjoyed the tour.

SaorAlba

@CaptHenway said:

@SaorAlba said:
Yes, I would get there first thing in the morning to get tickets(they are free). I really enjoyed the tour when I was there in April. While you are at it the ANA museum is about an hour or so away in Boulder and it was well worth seeing also. At least the ANA museum allows you to take non-flash photos.

The ANA Money Museum is in Colorado Springs, not Boulder. About 70 miles down I-25. Closed Mondays.

Sorry - bad memory, probably need to go back soon and learn the correct cites!

BLUEJAYWAY

Interesting in the video the mint still referred to cents as "pennies".

winesteven

I just visited last Saturday for the first time the ANA Money Museum in Colorado Springs. Great place to visit! Got to see 1943 Copper cent, 1913 Liberty Nickel, TWO 1804 dollars, and at least tens of millions of dollars worth of other interesting treasures! Things you can’t find in pocket change, lol.

Also interesting is/was the tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in D.C. I remember one of the employees had a sign near his machinery that said, “I make more money in a day than you’ll make in your lifetime”!

Steve