Cameras aren't allowed and that includes cell phones. And they don't have anyplace where you can store them securely while you take the tour. (want a free cell phone? check behind the shrubs.)
Excellent tip Conder. There's nothing worse than having made your reservations (yes, reservations are required), spending the day touring prior to actually taking the tour and then being told that you cannot take cameras or cell phones and even ladies purses with you on the tour AND they have no place for you to store them. Either someone stays behind or someone takes all the contraband and runs back to where the car is parked!
A trip to the mint is probably the best thing that can happen to a coin collector. Instead of the flashy stuff, try to pay attention to how the coins are minted to help you understand your coins more. Without this critical knowledge, many coin collectors are lost when trying to differentiate what could be an error from post mint damage. Lucky you, and have a good time!
I recall that there were no cell phones, cameras, hats or bags permitted for the pre-arranged Denver mint tour. However, I remember just stopping by the Philadelphia mint with my friend and there was a visitor tour with no such restrictions (about 10 - 15 years ago). I recall walking by displays of commemorative 50 cent pieces & viewing a manufacturing floor from behind a glass wall. I suspect that tour is still open to the public in Philadelphia unless they made a change. P.S. There was a bucket full of defective mint product on the Philadelphia floor that was causing me to drool. I like errors.
Just to be clear, 15 years ago my cell phone was permanently installed in my car. My friends in Asia were all carrying their phones but mine wasn't portable. I went to the Philadelphia mint back then and a general tour was apparently open to the public. My friend & I parked in a garage & just walked over to the mint. I don't know if the Philadelphia mint has changed & perhaps they offer reserved-guided tours today. It would be nice to know if they offer guided tours by reservation today. The Denver mint had all the restrictions and the tour was by reservation-only during one of the ANA summer seminars. It may have been 2007 or 2008.
It's called a joke. The tours at Denver, Philadelphia, and the BEP used to all be open to the public. Just walk in and take the self directed tour. That all changed just a little over nine years ago after a couple planes flew into the World Trade Center. For about six months all the tours were cancelled. Then for about a year you could get a tour by appointment, and it had to be scheduled through your Congressman well ahead of time, probably so a background check could be made. Eventually the restrictions were relaxed and you no longer had to go through the Congressman, and you didn't need the long lead time but you still had to make reservations.
I already went it was really fun yes no pics were allowed and if you took pics you would go to federal court. I was suprise you could not buy samples. In the gift shop I bought a uncurculated commerative Zachary Taylor Dollar incased in Alluminum and a trace of silver sound cool?
Remember the mindset at the time, they had just brought down the WTC and they were worried about terrorists everywhere. I can't say for sure they were doing background checks, but why else would you have to schedule the tours well in advance? You were coming into a Federal building and one the government would probably have considered a potential target.
