I was visiting family in Winnipeg last week. On Canada Day the mint was having an "open house" type of thing. Self guided tour, food truck, and you could make you own token. The store was open, of course. It was interesting to be able to see all the equipment from the walkway that goes through the middle of the place. Nothing was running due to the holiday. I would have be neat to see it running. On the drive in they have flags of all the countries they have made coins for over the years. 75... maybe. I should have taken a picture of it. Anyway, we made some tokens and I bought a few thing in the shop including this Orca $100 for $100 coin.
I visited last year and I'm still raving about it. While I was there, they were still minting the Canadian Flag quarters, but didn't yet want to reveal the design. I did take a picture of the flags you mentioned and the mint was in full force during the tour. The gift shop is a hard thing to resist. Junkies beware. I may have spent more money there than I wanted to. I don't remember seeing the tokens, though...
Love that orca coin, I want to tour the Philly mint, last time I was there was 2010 and I had yet to get into the hobby , one of these days I'll check it out
I have toured the Philadelphia and Denver mint as well. The Philadelphia mint was a little bit of a letdown, unfortunately. The self-guided tour consists of walking down a long corridor, reading the walls, and looking down on the mint floor. It then empties out into a gift shop. A small, very small, display begins the tour that includes some decent coins, but nothing brain shattering. Not fantastic but still worth the trip. The Denver mint was nearly the opposite experience. We had an awesome tour guide who explained everything, provided incredible historical asides and was generally hilarious and gregarious. The tour ends at the historical entrance, preceded by the amazing original hallways, chandeliers and thick thick thick doors. It does require a rather rigorous security routine on the way in, though, since the Denver mint houses 17% of the nation's gold reserves. Armed guards accompany the tour throughout, but everyone was extremely friendly. I highly recommend that tour. I somewhat recommend the Philadelphia tour. The Winnipeg mint is worth the trip to Canada all by itself. Had I done nothing else in Winnipeg I would have felt satisfied just visiting that awesome mint. Go!
I forgot to mention... they had a huge gold bar on display. With an armed guard and it was chained to the stand it was on. I didn't wait in line to take a photo with it but it was neat.
If you can, also consider also the museum in the Bank of England on Threadneedle Street, London. It is free to walk around - and also has a bar of gold you can lift up. I'd love to go the Winnipeg Mint now I know about it - I thought the main Mint was in Ottawa.
Because I went on any old weekday there was no line for the gold bar. That thing was a monster and far heavier than I suspected. It made the density of gold a tangible reality. That makes sense. Pity for me, because they look pretty cool. There was a large mint press that stamped out a rather generic mint token, though. It produced a harrowing thump like a pile driver. The sound effect and resulting rumbling quake were worth the experience alone. I need to get to the Ottawa mint as well. Maybe someday.
