Money, money, money, MONNNN-EY!

The Australian mint, like the American mint, has many locations across the country.  The one located in Canberra is responsible for making all of the coin money for Australia.  The coins range from the $.05 or as we know it, the nickel, up to the $2 coin.  Bills are produced in another state, I believe they said Victoria.  The process is both fascinating and mesmerizing.  We took the tour and at the end, we were able to make our own souvenir dollar coin.

Just another day at the Mint, makin money...

Workin that production line.....

This is the proof set room.  They make each proof coin individually and inspect them for flaws.  It is a tedious process but interesting to watch.  That's why the proof sets of coins cost so much.

This is where the average Mick's money is made.  (I havent really run across many "Joe"s here)

The robot's name is Titan and he lifts the barrels of blanks into the hopper  (at the bottom of the picture) and  the machines proceed to stamp them with the appropriate denomination.

The coins move along the belt until they are weighed and bagged for distribution.

These are medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics.  They were manufactured here at the Canberra RAM.

This poster and examples showed how coins would look with the varying amounts of pressure applied.  When enough pressure is not applied, the design of the coin will not show up.

Commemorative coins produced for the Queen's 50th Jubilee....Queen VICTORIA that is!

Examples of the circulating coins in Australia.  The smaller gold one is $2 and the larger gold one is $1.

This is how coins are made from concept/drawings to finished product.  It was really interesting to see how they go about it!

Makin more money!

This staircase is filled with five cent pieces and blanks.  The top of the staircase has the blanks and as you come down, they turn into actual money.

Close up of a stair on the staircase.

 The mint was heaps of fun.  No, they do not give samples.  You can however make your own $1 coin (after you pay your fee of course) and you can keep it as a souvenir.  We made several because it was sort of fun! The coin on offer right now is a 200th year commemoration of the first Australian money called the "Holey Dollar" and the "Dump".  In 1813, the Australian governor, Macquarie asked Britain for some coinage for use here in the colony.  Since there was none to spare, Britain purchased 10000 British Sterling worth of Spanish coins and sent them to Australia.  Seeing that the coins would quickly become in short supply, Macquarie had the convicts punch a hole in the center of the Spanish coins thereby making two coins which were designated as two denominations.  The "holey dollar" was worth $.15 and the "dump" or the coin from the middle was worth something like $.05.  Crisis averted.  :D  This was by far one of the best tours in Canberra so far and best of all...it was FREE!  The tour guide had a wealth of information about all types of money and its uses.  This should be a wider publicized tour but for now its the best kept secret in Canberra.