The Perth Mint

The Perth Mint is Australia's oldest working mint, although today it only makes special coins, such as those that marked the Olympics in Sydney in 2000.

Perth needed its own mint when people began to discover gold in Western Australia in the late 1800s. At that time, there was a mint in Melbourne and one in Sydney, but the people in WA were not inclined to send their gold there to be refined! This mint was under British control until 1970, when ownership and control was transferred to the government of WA, so now they can keep all the profits. We were able to see molten gold poured into a mold, creating a brick worth over $350,000. Of course, that same brick gets melted and re-molded several times a day, year-round.

If you want to spend a lot of money, this is the place to do so (we restrained ourselves!). We were not allowed to take pictures inside the Mint so can't show you any of the goods, but here's a photo of the outside. By the way, if I'm worth my weight in gold, my worth today is almost $3 million!

The browner parts of the outside are local limestone, but the white limestone came from Rottnest Island, about six miles off the coast (we plan to visit Rottnest next week).

After visiting the Mint, we meandered toward the city center, where we purchased some souvenirs and had lunch, then headed for home, beating the first rain we've had since we arrived.

Below are a few pictures of St. Mary's Cathedral in Perth.

And the Perth Town Hall:

We have just over a week left! This weekend, we'll head south to the Albany and Margaret River areas. More after we get back.