Swung By The US Mint Just Now

I can be there in a little over an hour any time I want.

Funny, I live thirty minutes from the Denver mint and, admittedly, I haven't been there since grade school... :( In fact, the last time I was near the mint at all, I was busted via loudspeaker by the mint for standing on the short wall off 16th street to take a better photo of something. Freaked me out. I thought it was the voice of God or something, "Get off the wall!" :)

Really need to get back there and actually buy something.

As an interesting side story, my nine year old got a reverse field trip from the mint this year. Instead of busing all the kids down there, they had a mint employee come out and show them videos and pictures of how coins are made. They even got a 2013 shield cent and a 2013 shield planchet in a little blister pack type thing. Pretty cool!

Both Mint gift shops are run by Aramark, a third party vendor. They don't always have what's available on website, because they, too have to place orders with PBGS just like ordinary citizens. The last time I was there they didn't have any of the 5oz ATB coins or the Spouse medals but they had all the proof gold and platinum eagles. A well kept secret is you can place a phone order with them especially on products that have just sold out on the website. They can Fedex to you for a flat rate of $20.

My parents live an hour from Philly, I fly into Denver frequently for business, and I'll be in San Francisco in about a month with some time to kill so perhaps I'll visit!

I was at the Philadelphia mint about a year ago in late December -- production was at a standstill due to holidays and the time of year. The gift shop had much of the website offerings and a few that weren't.

I've yet to get to the Denver mint but will definitely take the opportunity if I end up staying there over a weekend.

and @ndwlegal, I agree that the dollar set is a good pickup.