Today we went to the Denver Mint. It is one of two mints in the U.S. still producing coins. It was pretty cool. We couldn't take pictures because if we did the Secret Service would come to our house and take us to Federal Prison. (That is what the tour guide said today.) But really they won't let you take anything into the Mint. All I could take was my keys and a coin purse.
I learned a lot of things about coins today. The first is that coins are taken out of circulation by people stashing their change in jars and car ash trays. We also throw coins into fountains and stuff like that. So, the mint continuously makes more coins to put back into the economy to make up for all the coins that are sitting around.
I also learned that they make the new state quarters in the order that they became a state, and they only make them for a few weeks and then they are done. So, for example, Delaware was the first state in the U.S., so that is the first quarter that was made. Apparently, the Delaware Quarter is worth more than $.25 now, so if you have one of those you should keep it. Wyoming and Utah are the next two State Quarters to come out in 2007.
It was pretty cool. You have to make reservations six weeks in advance to take a tour, but I did find out today that you can get standby tickets. Definitely a place to check out if you are ever in Denver.
2 comments:
Wow, that is very interesting. So, is it a bad thing to keep money in jars?
No, they like it. It is one less thing they have to do.
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