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 Replies: 18 / Views: 2,972 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
900 Posts |
I'm going to the Philadelphia Mint on Tuesday (Feb. 20). I haven't been there sine 1979, so I'm pretty excited. I read somewhere (I can't remember where and now I can't find it) that the gift shop sells items that are otherwise not available to purchase.
Does anyone know what is available in the gift shop?
Is it like other gift shops that charge exorbitant prices for inferior goods?
While I plan to take my time and relish the experience, is there any part of the tour that is a "must see"?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2622 Posts |
The tour is self-guided and is rather short, with a view of the production floor and some exhibits. The gift shop is fun to look through, basically like the Mint's online catalog in person. I think there were some things that you ordinarily couldn't find online, and there was also a machine to exchange quarters for the newest ATB. Granted, this was several years ago, so things may have changed. Either way, it's a cool experience as a collector. Have fun, and let us know how it went!  |
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New Member
United States
15 Posts |
I went there last year, my brother got a gold plated quarter. He isn't really into coins. The tour is kinda cool, they had little piles of blanks and other errors in a little glass thing, and you could see the machines. The gift shop is fine. Not as much as I would imagine, but had some nice ish stuff.
Edited by dapuma
02/14/2018 4:27 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
One problem is that thinks to OSHA the machines are so shielded to protect the workers and for sound protection that you really probably can't see much of the actual production steps. They took out the foundry and rolling mills long ago. They still do blanking so you may see the strip coils and see them being moved around, but the blanking machines are also shielded so you will see the strip being fed in and blanks coming out and that is about it. You may see blanks being carried to the feed hoppers and coins coming out of the press. You won't see the actual striking. Might see annealing an cleaning of the blanks, and the counting and bagging of the coins. They have some other exhibits as well besides the production floor I believe. Have no idea what is in the gift shop. They tend to carry what is on the mint website (but something they will still have stock of things that are sold out online.) Of course no shipping charges. They will have all the recently released ATB Quarters available and probably some other "gift shop" type items. I don't know if they still enforce it, but it used to be you were not allowed to bring in cameras, and that included cellphone cameras. And they had no place to store them there for you. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1494 Posts |
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I don't know if they still enforce it, but it used to be you were not allowed to bring in cameras, and that included cellphone cameras. And they had no place to store them there for you. I just went on a tour of the Denver mint not too long ago. They were still enforcing the no camera/pictures rule. You could keep your phone, but it had to be off. |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
12839 Posts |
Was there about 5 years back. Pretty cool stuff. Hope you enjoy your trip! I do recall there being some interesting things not available in the online catalog. They have a small museum-type exhibit before you get to the tour of the plant. It is high above the floor and you look down upon everything and get a pretty good view. I remember seeing the 5-oz ATB press in action. The blanking machines were amazingly fast. |
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Valued Member
United States
330 Posts |
I went there about 2 years ago and can go any time I can be bothered to. The last time I went, I did not see anything in the shop that wasn't available online. It was like any other gift shop in terms of items and prices, and I can 99% say you won't find anything you can't anywhere else. Feel free to give it a shot though... Quote:there was also a machine to exchange quarters for the newest ATB. That's at our federal reserve branch which is about one block to the west of the mint  . Unless they also had one at the mint and I missed it  . Do make sure you visit the federal reserve branch as that's where they house a whole ton of historic money, from Massachusetts ones from the 1650s to a 100,000 bill. They'll give you a packet of shredded money just for visiting too. But otherwise it's fairly short and they'll make you go through a metal detector to get to it. Oh, and one more thing: Ben Franklin's grave is immediately south of the mint. Visit it too. The church asks for $2 to walk through the gate (helps fund them, of course) but you can see it through the sidewalk too. People shower it with pennies which is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Edited by nautilator
02/15/2018 5:06 pm
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Moderator
 United States
188660 Posts |
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Oh, and one more thing: Ben Franklin's grave is immediately south of the mint... That is good to know. I have not been to Philadelphia in twenty years and when I was last there I had no time for leisure activities. Next time I make it will be different. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
900 Posts |
Lots of good information and suggestions. I'm staying at the Wyndham, which is about a block away from the mint and Franklin's grave. I'll definitely stop by the Federal Reserve Bank too.
Nautilator, you sound like a local. I want to visit the 9th Street Italian Market as well. It was recommended by a Philly native. Is it worth making the trek down there?
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Valued Member
United States
330 Posts |
You know, I put the Italian market on my list of places to check out... and still haven't gone yet. I do think it is a good place to visit though. There are a lot of other similar markets. If you don't mind farmers-market-in-Philadelphia prices, you can try the Reading terminal market. And there's also Chinatown (4-6 blocks west of the mint). It's kind of dirty and I wouldn't touch their suspiciously cheap mixture of live-and-dead sea animals for anything but there are a couple of nice small bakeries that I visit when I go there the area.
Also, if you do visit Chinatown don't use a credit card there. I did once and it's the only time my number's ever been stolen. Could even tell you the specific store if you wanted but don't think I should name it in the open.
If you plan on going out in the evening, there are a whole bunch of restaurants everywhere but most are fairly small and fill up quickly so you'll want to call for a reservation ahead of time for any of them.
If you want to visit Liberty Bell that's fairly easy to do but the line will be long and you'll go through a metal detector.
If you want to visit Independence Hall, you have to get free tickets at the welcome center in the area. Last I visited, they weren't taking people up to the second floor due to budget cuts but that may have changed for the better by now.
There are actually "visit Philly" ticket packages where you can do something like visit 7 different places that require admission for about 50% off each individual visitation, depending on how long you're sticking around for. And if you at all planned to get out of the city for even a bit I could tell you about nearly every coin shop in our region!
Edited by nautilator
02/15/2018 11:53 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
900 Posts |
I went to the mint today. I'm glad I went since it had been nearly 40 years since the last time. In response to some of your comments: Quote:
Conder101 One problem is that thinks to OSHA the machines are so shielded to protect the workers and for sound protection that you really probably can't see much of the actual production steps This is very true and somewhat disappointing. There is a telescope pointed at one of the presses, but the image was no bigger than a dime and hard to see. But, there were videos that showed the process in slow motion that I found helpful. Quote:
nautilator Do make sure you visit the federal reserve branch as that's where they house a whole ton of historic money, from Massachusetts ones from the 1650s to a 100,000 bill. They'll give you a packet of shredded money just for visiting too. But otherwise it's fairly short and they'll make you go through a metal detector to get to it. There was an interactive exhibit where you are challenged to spot the counterfeit FRN that I found interesting and they gave me $100 in shredded bills. Now I need $100 in scotch tape top put it back together.  Quote:
nautilator try the Reading terminal market. I tried it and loved it. I'll definitely go back here. After seeing Herschel's Deli on Food Network so many times, I finally got to try their corned beef on rye. It did not disappoint. Quote:
CelticKnotI do recall there being some interesting things not available in the online catalog They did not have the 2018 ATB Silver proof sets  . There were a couple of items that piqued my interest, but I passed on them because they weren't original/authentic. They had hobo nickels, quarters and dollars (Ikes). It turns out they were modern pieces. They were nice, but if I'm going to spend $25 on a hobo nickel, I want an authentic piece. They also sold a bag of what appeared to be Gem BU 1943 steel cents. It turns how they were polished and/or replated  . I passed. I did purchase a 2017 and 2018 proof Silver Eagle. I think I'll be starting another CAPS Album soon. The 2017 ASE is a W, not an S.   I saw a lot of other really cool things. Philly is a great city and I can't wait to go back and spend more time there. Edited by scurry64
02/20/2018 7:43 pm
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Pillar of the Community
7234 Posts |
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Now I need $100 in scotch tape top put it back together.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2622 Posts |
Nice pickups scurry! Sounds like you enjoyed yourself even if you didn't find everything you were looking for.  If you still want to get the ATB silver proof set that comes out Thursday, you can sign up for the product enrollment anytime before noon tomorrow and get free shipping. Quote:That's at our federal reserve branch which is about one block to the west of the mint . Unless they also had one at the mint and I missed it . Back in 2010, they had a machine in the lobby of the Mint to exchange quarters for the newest ATB. I remember getting a couple Mount Hood's. I haven't been back since, however, so it sounds like they moved it to the Fed. *Edited for clarification.Edited by CollegeBarbers
02/20/2018 7:18 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
900 Posts |
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nautilator Ben Franklin's grave is immediately south of the mint. People shower it with pennies which is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. People throw a penny on his grave in honor of his saying, "A penny saved is a penny earned." The church collects all the money thrown on his grave ($4,000 annually) to help pay for the upkeep. I left a bright, shiny cent, but others left a lot more. In one of the pics below it looks like someone left a bag containing a couple of Morgans (?) and some cash.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
900 Posts |
Quote:CollegeBarbersBack in 2010, they had a machine in the lobby of the Mint to exchange quarters for the newest ATB. I remember getting a couple Mount Hood's. I haven't been back since, however, so it sounds like they moved it to the Fed. This machine was at the Fed. I was disappointed to get 2 2017 George Rogers Clark quarters. I stopped playing that machine after 2 pulls. |
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Moderator
United States
188660 Posts |
Thank you for your report and photos, scurry64. |
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Replies: 18 / Views: 2,972 |
Posted 02/14/2018 11:55 am
