I'm in town for the weekend, and I'm considering dropping by the mint. I'm assuming some of you have been before - worth checking it out?
It's walking distance for me, and I go through it a few times a year. There are excellent places to just sit and muse about numismatics. And there's a stuffed bird.
Yes, it's worth visiting, but I can't say I loved the experience compared to other mints I've seen. I visited Philadelphia about 4-5 years ago. Between the Philadelphia and Denver Mint tours, I would choose the Denver tour any day over the Philadelphia. Denver still has tour guides. Philadelphia basically has a corridor that you walk down with windows overlooking the mint floor. Then you read information on the walls and basically go at your own pace. A small museum with many interesting specimens opens the tour. The whole thing ends with the gift shop, of course. I bought a proof "W" Silver Eagle. So definitely go, but if things haven't changed I can't say I give the experience really high ratings. A tour guide really helps heighten the experience, and the Denver, Winnipeg and Ottawa mints haven't forgotten that, but Philadelphia seems to have, unfortunately. If things have changed, please let me know and I'll make an effort to return.
Philly was my first mint experience...and I loved it. I wish I had more time to have spent there. A live tour guide would have surely enhanced the experience...esp. to answer questions about what one was viewing as the actual minting process was taking place live in front of you. Plenty of reading posters and some computer interactions. A former mint employee happened to be walking thru the tour at the same time with his lady friend so I did get some inside commentary from him. Surprisingly, his favorite coin was the SBA dollar.
