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The Perth Mint is Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
's oldest operating mint
Mint (coin)

A mint is an industrial facility which manufacturing coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is normally related in a fashion that more closely ties to the political situation of an era....
. After the foundation stone was laid in 1896 by Sir John Forrest
John Forrest

Sir John Forrest Order of St Michael and St George was an Australian explorer, the first Premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australia's first federal parliament....
, the Mint opened on June 20 1899 as a branch of the Royal Mint
Royal Mint

The Royal Mint of the United Kingdom is the body permitted to manufacture, or mint , Coins of the pound sterling in the United Kingdom. The Mint originated over 1,100 years ago, but has functioned since 1975 as a Trading Fund, operating in much the same way as a government-owned company....
 in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 to refine gold
Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal, having been used as money, as a store of value, in jewelry, in sculpture, and for ornamentation since the beginning of recorded history....
 and manufacture gold sovereigns and half sovereigns to be used as currency in the colony.

At that time, Western Australia
Western Australia

Western Australia is a States and territories of Australia occupying the entire western third of the Australia . The nation's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.1 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state....
's population was growing rapidly (23,000 in 1869 and 180,000 in 1900) due largely to the discovery of gold in the Kalgoorlie, Coolgardie and Murchison
Murchison

Murchison is the name of:* Alice Lynne Murchison, the maiden name of Lindy Chamberlain* Carl Murchison, psychologist* Ira Murchison, American athlete...
 areas of the colony.






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The Perth Mint is Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
's oldest operating mint
Mint (coin)

A mint is an industrial facility which manufacturing coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is normally related in a fashion that more closely ties to the political situation of an era....
. After the foundation stone was laid in 1896 by Sir John Forrest
John Forrest

Sir John Forrest Order of St Michael and St George was an Australian explorer, the first Premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australia's first federal parliament....
, the Mint opened on June 20 1899 as a branch of the Royal Mint
Royal Mint

The Royal Mint of the United Kingdom is the body permitted to manufacture, or mint , Coins of the pound sterling in the United Kingdom. The Mint originated over 1,100 years ago, but has functioned since 1975 as a Trading Fund, operating in much the same way as a government-owned company....
 in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 to refine gold
Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal, having been used as money, as a store of value, in jewelry, in sculpture, and for ornamentation since the beginning of recorded history....
 and manufacture gold sovereigns and half sovereigns to be used as currency in the colony.

At that time, Western Australia
Western Australia

Western Australia is a States and territories of Australia occupying the entire western third of the Australia . The nation's largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world, it has 2.1 million inhabitants , 85% of whom live in the south-west corner of the state....
's population was growing rapidly (23,000 in 1869 and 180,000 in 1900) due largely to the discovery of gold in the Kalgoorlie, Coolgardie and Murchison
Murchison

Murchison is the name of:* Alice Lynne Murchison, the maiden name of Lindy Chamberlain* Carl Murchison, psychologist* Ira Murchison, American athlete...
 areas of the colony. There was very little money available in Perth
Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the List of Australian capital cities and largest city of the Australian States and territories of Australia of Western Australia. With a population of 1,554,769 , Perth ranks fourth amongst the nation's cities, with a growth rate consistently above the national average....
 for which miners could exchange gold to pay for goods.

Although Federation
Federation of Australia

The federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate United Kingdom self-governing colony of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed a federation....
 occurred in 1901, the Mint remained under the jurisdiction of Britain until July 1 1970, when it became a statutory authority of the Government of Western Australia
Government of Western Australia

The formation of the Government of Western Australia is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1890, although it has been amended many times since then....
. It is now owned by Gold Corporation
Gold Corporation

Gold Corporation is a company owned by the Western Australian Government, established by the Gold Corporation Act 1987, with a mandate to operate the Perth Mint, to market Australian gold and other related activities....
 which is wholly-owned by the Government of Western Australia.

Up to 2000, the Mint's refined fine gold output totaled 4,500 tonnes, representing 3.25% of the total tonnage of gold produced by humankind. This is about the current holdings of gold bullion in the United States Mint
United States Mint

The United States Mint primarily produces circulating currency for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce. The main Mint facility is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and branch mint are located in Denver, Colorado; San Francisco, California; and West Point, New York....
's Fort Knox Bullion Depository. Until 1984, it also manufactured much of Australia's conventional coin currency.

Today, the Mint continues to provide refining and other services to the gold industry and manufactures many coin related numismatic items for investors and coin collectors. It is responsible for manufacturing and marketing most of Australia's legal tender precious metal coins, including proof
Proof coinage

Proof coinage means special early samples of a coin issue, historically made for checking the die s and for archival purposes, but nowadays often struck in greater numbers specially for coin Collecting ....
 quality Australian Nugget gold coins, Australian Koala platinum coins, Australian Australian_Silver_Kookaburra
Australian Silver Kookaburra

The Silver Kookaburra is a Silver coin bullion coin originating from Australia. The coins are .999 fine silver. They are produced in the following four sizes:...
 coins and bullion.

See also

  • Perth Mint Swindle
    Perth Mint Swindle

    The Perth Mint Swindle is the popular name of a 22 June 1982 gold robbery at the Perth Mint in Perth, Western Australia. A total of 49 gold bars weighing 68 kg were stolen....
  • History of Western Australia
    History of Western Australia

    The human history of Western Australia commenced between 40,000 and 60,000 years ago with the arrival of Indigenous Australians on the north-west coast....


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