Visited the Philly Mint and Federal Reserve Today
KiltedOne
Posts: 150
Wow! Bad timing. Must have been 10,000 kids there today, lots of school trips and tones of camp kids as well. Took about an hour just to get in the entrance, and then the Mint Police regulating the line mentioned “no cell phone cameras allowed” just as I got to the head of the line. Of course I had my cell with me, and of course it was a camera phone as well. The metal detector guys inside let me slide though when I explained that I was going to skip the tour and just head to the gift shop. They kind of took pity on me and told me to just keep it in my pocket.
The gift shop was just as packed as you would think. By the way, the mint tour dumps you out in the gift shop (just like any good museum or public attraction) and of course there were probably 150 kids running around the place. They did have some pretty cool stuff that I did not expect such as lots of coin collecting materials, books, and such. As well as the usual nick-knacks that one would expect such as shirts and hats, and even Mint Socks. Yep, a pair of blue socks with US MINT in white. Wonder if PCGS would grade those, they did appear to be at least MS69.
I managed to make my way to the single cashier – who looked like she was NOT having a good day (but she was nice and very polite to me) and asked about any Lincoln Cents or Lincoln silver dollars. She said they had no Cents (no pun intended) and that they did have a batch of Lincoln Silver Dollars, but they had sold the last of them a few days ago. They did of course have the Louis Braille available, but I declined.
They also had a selection of 2007 items, including the Presidential $1 coin UC Set, so I did pick one of those up and the 2008 set just to get something to validate my time spent waiting in line. I also picked up a few empty mint bags for storing my hoard of loose Lincoln Cents. The large bags were for marked for State Quarters, but I did think that they were kind of neat and were pretty cheap. As a little bonus surprise, I did pay with cash and got back in change a nice 1964-P Jefferson in AU condition. Coincidence I know, but still neat.
I decided to head across the street and stop by the Federal Reserve. They have a free exhibit on “Money in Motion” and there were probably 5 people in there (a far cry from across the street at the mint). The exhibit was really cool and for paper collectors this is a must. They had a huge display of notes and lots of great information on paper currency. I had never had an opportunity to see some of these notes in person, and was really amazed at the variety and size of some of these.
They also had a kiosk where you could trade in paper dollars for territorial quarters. I ended up with a roll of BU Puerto Rico Quarters for face value. The sign said that the limit was 4 quarters, but as I was the only one asking the attendant let me have a whole roll in the Mint Wrapper. I never made it back to the teller area as I was running late from my wait at the mint (I was hoping to ask for some 2009 dimes after seeing that one on Ebay go for almost $50!).
All in all it was an interesting visit to both places. My main goal was to see if there were any Lincoln dollars there, but at least I saved the shipping charges for the Presidential UC Sets – can’t really complain about that.
The gift shop was just as packed as you would think. By the way, the mint tour dumps you out in the gift shop (just like any good museum or public attraction) and of course there were probably 150 kids running around the place. They did have some pretty cool stuff that I did not expect such as lots of coin collecting materials, books, and such. As well as the usual nick-knacks that one would expect such as shirts and hats, and even Mint Socks. Yep, a pair of blue socks with US MINT in white. Wonder if PCGS would grade those, they did appear to be at least MS69.
I managed to make my way to the single cashier – who looked like she was NOT having a good day (but she was nice and very polite to me) and asked about any Lincoln Cents or Lincoln silver dollars. She said they had no Cents (no pun intended) and that they did have a batch of Lincoln Silver Dollars, but they had sold the last of them a few days ago. They did of course have the Louis Braille available, but I declined.
They also had a selection of 2007 items, including the Presidential $1 coin UC Set, so I did pick one of those up and the 2008 set just to get something to validate my time spent waiting in line. I also picked up a few empty mint bags for storing my hoard of loose Lincoln Cents. The large bags were for marked for State Quarters, but I did think that they were kind of neat and were pretty cheap. As a little bonus surprise, I did pay with cash and got back in change a nice 1964-P Jefferson in AU condition. Coincidence I know, but still neat.
I decided to head across the street and stop by the Federal Reserve. They have a free exhibit on “Money in Motion” and there were probably 5 people in there (a far cry from across the street at the mint). The exhibit was really cool and for paper collectors this is a must. They had a huge display of notes and lots of great information on paper currency. I had never had an opportunity to see some of these notes in person, and was really amazed at the variety and size of some of these.
They also had a kiosk where you could trade in paper dollars for territorial quarters. I ended up with a roll of BU Puerto Rico Quarters for face value. The sign said that the limit was 4 quarters, but as I was the only one asking the attendant let me have a whole roll in the Mint Wrapper. I never made it back to the teller area as I was running late from my wait at the mint (I was hoping to ask for some 2009 dimes after seeing that one on Ebay go for almost $50!).
All in all it was an interesting visit to both places. My main goal was to see if there were any Lincoln dollars there, but at least I saved the shipping charges for the Presidential UC Sets – can’t really complain about that.
"I find that a great part of the information I have was acquired by looking up something and finding something else on the way." - Franklin Pierce Adams
Positive BST Transactions: kalshacon
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I did the exact same trip last week and had a similar experience.
Zillions of kids on the street and at the mint. Got turned away from the mint because of a camera and a cell phone w/camera. After going back to the car and then back to the mint we went on the self guided tour. Got to see lots of cool stuff including employees actually striking the small sized bronze first spouse medals. The gift shop was neat. Only thing I bought was a nice US Mint coffee mug and a birthyear coin folder for my buddy who just had a baby.
The Fed was next. The security at the Fed was hard core...very cool. I felt like I was in the movie Gattica haha. Totally empty inside but the items on display were worth the trip. I liked the tower of 100 Million Dollars of shredded currency...that's a lot of shreds!
After that we walked down the block to see the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. That has been a life long goal to see that. Extremely awesome.
Next was a trip to Pat's for a cheese steak.....whiz wit out.
Thanks for the report!
We usually have people report on their trips to the New York Fed. It's nice that the Philly Fed has a great exhibit, too!
Check out the Southern Gold Society
I've done the Denver mint both back in the 80's and the mid 90's as well as recently. That tour used to dump you out in the US Mint Gift/Souvenir shop where you could purchase sourvenir sets. Now, the souvenir shop is located outside the main gates so you can just go in during normal business hours without having to go through US Mint Security.
They also had a coining press where, for $5.00, you could coin up one of the copper medals that go into the souvenir sets. It was very cool. Had I known then what I know now, I would have asked the attendent to let me strike a couple twice!
BTW, for those folks thinking about taking a US Mint tour, be forwarned that they will not allow you to take camera's on the tour. Ladies are not even allowed to take their purses inside the mint. They DO NOT have storage lockers so it can be a real pain looking for a place to keep your purse. At least, thats what it was on the last Denver Mint Tour I took.
The name is LEE!
<< <i>BTW, for those folks thinking about taking a US Mint tour, be forwarned that they will not allow you to take camera's on the tour. Ladies are not even allowed to take their purses inside the mint. They DO NOT have storage lockers so it can be a real pain looking for a place to keep your purse. At least, thats what it was on the last Denver Mint Tour I took. >>
Same in Philly. There were a number of "moms and dads" guarding piles of cell phones, bags and cameras all lined up on the sidewalk outside the mint - in the nice humid weather.
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I just happened to stop in that day while they were stickering the coins for inventory and got a few.
They have a kiosk for the current quarters as well right outside the Mint gift shop. They still had Puerto Rico
last week during my visit.
I have not been to the Philly Fed yet, but will have to stop by one of these days soon. As of tomorrow, I'm moving
just a few miles from Independence Hall/Old City Philly. No excuses not to visit now!
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My wife and I both received a 2009-P dime at the gift shop. I believe Tuesday was the last day they still had them to give out. They had nice US Mint sweatshirts with full hoods on sale for $12.49 each.
I also picked up a roll set of 2009 P&D Kennedy halves.
By the way, the Philly Mint is in a real slow down mode. Little demand for the circulating coin products.
The Federal Reserve exhbit was very nice too. They also gave out the shredded bills packages for free (smart way to recycle their paper bills).
When the state Q's first came out, my co-workers & I would stroll down to the Federal Reserve's teller window to buy rolls. There was a strict limit of 2 per customer, with no getting back in line. I managed to get a roll each of most of the states for my sons that way, until they closed-down that window. Then it was up to our local Credit Union, and later a bank or two near home, to fill my 2-roll-per-state requirement.
I've managed to save 2 rolls per state (all "P" mint, except for Ohio, when they were experiencing problems in Philly) since the start, with just a few exceptions, when the Fed window was closed.
If they're really open again, I'll have to plan on going into the office one day soon to try to get 2 rolls of the Guam, to keep my streak going. But once this year's over, I'll just be looking out for loose "National Parks" quarters to fill Whitman folders. No more roll-searching...... the 50 states program simply burnt me out.....
Where can I get a nice box like the ones in which they ship $500 in Q's to the banks? I got one from a discount stationery store that's no longer on Chestnut Street (they had awesome prices on padded mailers, too!), and would like to get another so I can split the 50 state Q rolls into 1 box each for the kids. Would banks have them, or do they rip the tops off to get to them?