G'Day Mates!

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Day 23: Saturday April 4

Saturday morning we went to the Royal Australian Mint (you know, the place they make the coins). Since it was the weekend, the floor wasn't actualyl running at the time but we did get to see the factory rooms where everything is made.
We also got to watch a video on how the coins are made. First, an artist is employed to sketch the coin and etch it onto a large block. Then, they scan the sketching using some kind of laser program and it etches out the design on a much smaller scale onto something called a die. This will be what they use to stamp every other coin. A die is created for each side of the coin and the program etches them backwards so when they stamp the coins, they come out correct. Meanwhile, blank coins are being cut and sized at this time. Then they take buckets of blanks and run them through a machine that high speed stamps the blank between both sides of the die.
A lot of this work is done by machines and high intelligence robots, often being run by humans (kinda freaky to watch them work- the robots, that is). There are actually three types of coins created: proofs, uncirculated, and circulating. Proofs are the most expensive; they are created individually by a person rather than a machine and are the most well created pieces. The room they are created in is air conditioned year round and almost completely dust free- they say it’s more air tight than some operating rooms.
The proofs room
Obviously circulating are ones that are created and then sent out for use. Uncirculated are created for collections and displays or as souvenirs and receive an extra step of softening and cleaning to make them better looking.  They told us how the first coins ever to land in Australia was actually by accident, when the Dutch crashed/landed on the coast.
Dutch coins with coral grown around them
They also told us a lot of history, like about how Australian money was originally pence and pounds, similar to the U.K. and that they eventually switched to the decimal system after establishing themselves. We also learned about the most famous Australian coin, the 1930 penny. Turns out that The Great Depression was going on at the time and the government decided that no pennies were to be made that year, but by the time this came around, a die had already been produced and about 3000 pennies had been struck. So, they took the pennies and put them into storage. Here’s where it gets a little fuzzy- the next year, once production had picked back up, somehow the 1930’s pennies got put into circulation with the new 1940 ones. Some say it was accident, some say it was on purpose but either way, it’s pretty rare.
"The coin that didn't exist"
We spent plenty of time just looking at the various rare coins they have collected or even created then eventually made our way back downtown. Being Saturday, we knew that both the malls would be open so we spent a considerable time shopping and just exploring the city center. To finish off our Saturday night, we decided to hit up another rugby game. This time it was the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) Brumbies vs the Central Cheetahs. It was a great night and we even won. After a long walk home, it was time to get this girl in bed.
Terri, John, and I at the game