royal canadian mint tour

Royal Canadian Mint

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Take a fascinating, affordable tour to learn how coins are made, and shop for unique gifts and collectibles in an historic building near the ByWard Market area.

On your tour, you can learn about the precise art and craft of coin-making, see over $1 million worth of pure gold and even hold a solid gold bar! Discover the mint's storied history, which includes a Guinness World Record for producing the world's largest coin—a 100-kilogram coin made of 99.999% pure gold with a face value of $1 million. On weekdays, you can also watch coins being made. Operating since 1908, the Royal Canadian Mint is one of the world's most respected manufacturers. The mint's Ottawa location makes coins for collectors, many of which commemorate important people and events in Canada's history. It is open daily, year round.

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Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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Interesting hour long tour you need to... - Royal Canadian Mint

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Interesting hour long tour you need to book in advance

This tour offers a great insight into how coins are made. Yannick, our guide, was great and enthusiastic. This mint no longer produces circulating coins, those are now made in Winnipeg. This mint makes bullion and collector coins made from silver and gold. The process is still the same and these coins are much more valuable. We booked our tour about a week in advance and I'm happy we did. We tried to get on an earlier tour, but all the slots were filled. It's just a short walk from Parliament Hill and a stone's throw from the National Gallery of Canada. No photos are allowed during the tour. Yes, they do have a gift shop.

You can only visit by tour, which I would recommend booking in advance as they book up quickly. The staff were helpful and welcoming and there is a small gift shop to browse whilst waiting for your tour (or afterwards). The tour was really interesting, we saw some of the production happening, (although this isn't guaranteed) and some great exhibits. There are toilets but no cafe or anywhere to get a drink, however it is fairly centrally located so there are places not too far away where you can eat.

Interesting. Tours go every 15 minutes and the admission at $10 is very reasonable. We had a very knowledgeable young man as a guide who was very informative and took time to explain everything. Walking distance from Parliament buildings.

We had a private tour led by Edward. Edward was an outstanding tour guide incredibly knowledgeable about the mint and eager to answer any questions we asked. A perfect way to start your shopping for coins at the Mint!

I wasn't sure quite what to expect from a tour as the website doesn't give much away and there are no photographs to give you an idea, but was absolutely fascinated by the processes that we were shown as we made our way along a high level enclosed walkway that looks down on the factory floor. There are video screens along the route that the tour guides can use to show the processes that go on here, but we were lucky to be visiting on a day when so much was going on and these proved unecessary in many spots along the route. We could workers in their safety gear; bars and gold coils being lifted by machinery; and an array of stamping, sorting and quality checking processes. So much better than the website hinted at. The guided tour also highlights some of the output in displays along the route, including special issue coins and medals. It was impressive to see the list of countries that the Royal Canadian Mint produce coins for. Overall, this was absolutely fascinating and the tour is well worth booking.

Didn't have time for the tour but just visiting the shop was fantastic. Wonderful, knowledgeable staff. Pay in cash - receive your change in cash - coins that have not been in normal circulation.

Royal Canadian Mint

Producing loonies to the tune of billions of dollars, this high-tech mint produces money for Canada and 60 other nations. Tour the pyramid-shaped glass facility to see how money is made. It lies 9km southeast of the city center.

520 Blvd Lagimodière

Get In Touch

800-267-1871

https://www.mint.ca

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Only in the Peg | Tourism Winnipeg

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• Only in the Peg

The Royal Canadian Mint at 520 Lagimodiere Boulevard (photo by William Au)

The price is right at The Royal Canadian Mint  

Save on family tours and come celebrate one of canada’s most-famous artists at upcoming coin exchange.

While you’ll see thousands of artistic five and 10-cent pieces at the Royal Canadian Mint, you’ll never be nickel-and-dimed.   

Tours of the Mint remain one the best bang for your buck experiences in the city – which is fitting as they sure do bang out plenty of bucks (ahem, loonies) – as this state-of-the-art facility is sure to both impress and captivate your whole family.     

And now, the Royal Canadian Mint is making it even more affordable to do so, with family tours (2 adults, 2 children) only $30!     

As you can read on TripAdvisor , the Royal Canadian Mint’s signature 45-minute tour is a  4.5-star experience that combines technology, culture, history and adventure, unveiling how millions of coins are produced annually right here at the centre of Canada for countries around the world. Tours are available in English and French, and the tour guides do such a fine job of combining the technical details with many interesting tidbits that will delight visitors.      

On top of the above deal, you can also purchase passes for the Royal Canadian Mint as part of the  Winnipeg Attractions Pass , which will save you up to 30 per cent on five of the city’s top attractions.     

Here’s just a few reasons why to book    

It’s a worldly experience: As the flags you pass as you enter indicate, it’s not just Canadian currency that is produced here in Winnipeg. More than 75 countries have used the Mint to mint its coinage, making it a great spot to test your geography skills.     

There are so many fascinating facts for technology buffs: You’ll learn each phase of the coining process –– from the design to how the 50-ton coin pressing machine works to shipping to trade secrets that will impress both young and old alike.     

Architecture buffs will relish learning about Étienne Gaboury’s famed building: It shines with its all-glass exterior while acting like a small mountain sticking out on the prairies. (One fun fact you might not learn is that the Mint’s façade  played the role of the evil pharmaceutical company in a very brief shot near the end of Fernando Meirelles’ international thriller, The Constant Gardener .)    

The boutique(!): Collectors will love all there is to purchase at the Mint, as they have everything from collector’s coins to Canadian memorabilia and souvenirs.     

So many fun photo opportunities: Along with fun cutouts that you can put your head in, you can also take some snaps of the medals that were made here for the Vancouver Winter Olympics – including the gold of course – while silver fans won’t feel like second place when they get to hold a real silver bar!     

To book a tour  click here or phone 204-984-1144 or toll free at 1-877-WPG-MINT (974-6468).     

New coin exchange celebrating one of Canada’s most famous painters    

The Mint is constantly hosting new coin exchanges that are very popular.      

This week, from October 26 to 28, they will be releasing a commemorative coin featuring one of Quebec's – and indeed Canada's – most celebrated artists.     

The event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (while coins last, limit of one per person and quantities are limited) in the Boutique. Cash transactions only, with no admission charge for the coin exchange.     

Find the  full artist details here .     

The Royal Canadian Mint is located at 520 Lagimodière Boulevard and is open Tuesday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The last tours of the day begin at 4 p.m.

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