Panorama showing the front and courtyard of the Perth Mint, one of the main tourist attractions in Perth. The mint has museums on gold mining in Western Australia and a demonstration on casting gold bars (which you can not touch!). Photography inside the Perth Mint is prohibited.

The Perth Mint - Perth visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'The Perth Mint' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Western Australia.

Panorama taken in the courtyard of the Perth Mint showing a display of a gold mine camp. Perth Mint is situated on Hay Street.

When gold was discovered in Australia, the population of Perth soared from around 23,000 to 180,000. Prospectors had virtually no currency to trade in so the British Mint based in London founded the Perth Mint in 1899. Perth Mint forged the gold sovereigns and half sovereigns used throughout the British Empire. Indeed, it remained under the jurisdiction of Great Britian until 1970 when authority transfered to the Government of Western Australia.

Up until 2000, the output of the Mint totaled 3.25% of all gold produced in the World, roughly the equivalent of the entire holdings of the Fort Knox Bullion Depository in the United States of America.

Currently, the Mint provides numismatic and refining services, no longer manufacturing Australia's everyday currency and coins. It produces precious metal products for investment purposes, including marketable stocks on the Stock Exchange. Around 80% of it's turnover is exported, including commemorative and numismatic coins and precious metal "blanks".

The visitor to the Mint is guided through several exhibits including the Gold Pour, a replicated manufacturing process, displays from the depository of coins and a collection of the largest natural nuggets recovered. They may also handle a 400oz pure Gold Bar - at time of writing, that is worth roughly £180,000 or $373,200 AUS. Yes, they do also have excellent security!

They also, not surprisingly, have an excellent gift shop where you may purchase a range of gold, platinum and precious metal items and have them personalised by expert engravers.

The Perth Mint
300-310 Hay Street,
East Perth,
Western Australia 6004,
Australia