After travelling up the Swan river on a leisurely cruise from Fremantle, we spent the day in Perth, capital city of Western Australia, founded in 1829 as administrative centre of the Swan River Colony
Having done city walking tours both in Adelaide and Melbourne, we thought we do some thing (spectacularly) different and visit the Perth Mint. What a fantastic experience
With WA’s population growing rapidly due to the discovery of rich gold deposits in various areas of the colony, there was very little money available in Perth for which miners could exchange gold to pay for goods.
Instead of money from other places, Perth became the latest Mint in Australia and stayed under the jurisdiction of Great Britain until 1970.
The exhibition has interesting facts about gold, coins and stories about gold nuggets being found. Did you know that ..
- Gold and heavy metals were formed as stars exploded and collided?
- All the gold that exists on Earth today is extra-terrestrial?
- Even as recent as 1995 sizeable gold nuggets have been found? New gold rush anyone?
We also watched gold being melted in a furnace of 1260 degrees and liquid gold being poured into a new gold bar
And by the way, the equivalent of my weight in gold is about 5 million AUD (at current gold prices)
The Travels of Birgit 