The Royal Canadian Mint

Did you ever wonder where the 2010 Vancouver Olympic medals were made?  When  we went to Ottawa we visited the Royal Canadian  Mint which is where they make all the Canadian collector coins as well as other special coins like the 2010 Olympic medals.

We saw the fabrication of the coins. After getting the gold and silver from the mines, the workers melt it.  Then they flatten the gold and silver and use cutters to punch holes in the metals. These holes are called blanks. To put an emblem on the blank coin it takes 220 tons of pressure.   After all these steps they inspect the coins to make sure there are no mistakes. If there are mistakes, the metal gets melted once again. We saw the molds of a 200 pound dollar coin which was 99. 999% pure gold. It would be worth 5.6 million dollars today. In one room alone we saw over 200 million dollars worth of metals . Each gold roll was worth 24 million dollars and the silver rolls were worth half a million dollars each. They make 15 000 coins a day in this mint while the mint in Winnipeg makes around 1 million coins a day. The Winnipeg mint makes all the coins we find in our pockets, otherwise known as  the circulation coins.

At the mint there is lots of security to protect the precious metals. I held a 28 pound  block of gold worth 700 000$ . It was guarded by a policeman with a weapon.  The Ottawa Mint also made the 2010 Olympic medals which are only worth 600$ each. I think this is undervalued. 

The Mint was a very interesting place to visit and learn about coins . Next time you are in a Post office and you see collector coins you will know where they come from .

By Owen 

This bar is worth 700 000$. It is very heavy.

Here I am with my brothers outside the Mint.