If you follow my blog you may have read about my parents who took my nephew to Philadelphia on a road trip. The first thing my mom said to me as I was telling her our itinerary for the city, was "Whatever you do, don't waste time going to the mint, it's so boring." Boy am I glad I didn't listen to my mother-the U.S. Mint is fascinating and all three teenagers gave it a rousing thumbs up.
Security is super tight and no cameras are allowed so unfortunately I don't have any great pics to show you. Head up to the 3rd floor where all the action is. There check out the displays that explain how coins are designed and then produced out of metal sheets. We loved finding out about the purpose of the ridges on the sides of the coins and what happens to the rejects. The whole process is fascinating and what's super cool is that you can watch it all in action through glass windows.
The kids and I loved watching the metal coils get fed into the machine that punched out little metal discs. From there little "buckets" of circle bits of metal head by conveyer into the machines that turn them into coins. The best part is that throughout the self guided "tour" there are all kinds of things to touch and feel and even some quizzes-can you tell which coin you are touching without looking based on it's thickness? You can even try to lift a large canvas bag of coins exactly like they are packed when they are headed to the federal reserve. It's so heavy, I don't know how they do it.
Afterwards, head back down to the 1st floor and mosey into the gift shop. There are some amazingly cool "coin" gifts-like a giant penny to display at home. There is also a fun photo booth-and you know I just can't resist. Check out these pictures we minted of ourselves...too funny. Don't miss this very educational and fun stop.
