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Drever
Drever
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5 out of 5
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The Perth Mint

  • May 31, 2009
  • Rated 5 of 5 by Drever from Ayr
The Perth Mint

Fortune smiled on Western Australia at the end of the 19th century. On 17th September 1892, Arthur Bayley discovered gold at Coolgardie, 560 kilometres east of Perth, and rode into Southern Cross with 540 ounces in his saddlebags.

Change occurred at breathtaking speed. Towns thrived and faded at prospectors discovered new goldfields which and in turn they left for richer pickings elsewhere. Regular coaches appeared for carrying mail, passengers and gold. Commerce flourished, railways arrived, telegraph lines extended and the authorities built a new harbour for the many ships arriving. The newly rich indulged in riotous spending. They made fortunes and often as quickly lost it. Perth Mint tells the stories of dreams shattered and dreams fulfilled.

A Hugh Corbet praised the old prospectors with these words:

‘What a wonderful man he was! Assailed by thirst, hunger,
weariness. He never admitted defeat. Something of a
hermit, he shunned his fellow men – something of an
ascetic, he despised the shelter of towns- something of a
mystic he walks beneath a rainbow nobody else could
see, secure in the faith that he would presently find the
crock of gold.’


In the arid conditions water was at a premium. More and larger condensers arrived to extract freshwater from salt, with more and more trees felled for fuel. A revolutionary water pipeline received the go-ahead.

The scarcity of water meant that prospectors could not use panning to separate gold panning from the dirt. Instead they used a dryblower, a machine that relied on motion and wind to isolate the gold. The clouds of dust created contributed to the respiratory disease from which many people died.

In the 1930s because of the world depression gold value soared and the gold mining industry, which had been stagnating, boomed again. The Australian government to help the unemployed offered them transport to the goldfields as well as food and prospecting equipment.

Many of the miners had experienced gold rushes many times before. Round a campfire one heard tales of Africa, New Guinea, New Zealand, Australia, America and other strange countries that would be a mine of information to a writer of books of adventure tales. Told in the quiet unostentatious manner of the habitual digger to whom poverty, riches and hardships, harsh conditions endured by prospectors seeking their fortunes comes in turn.

If you wish to rediscover the excitement of these earlier times the Mint is the place to visit. It is a lovely historic building built in the 1890s. The Mint, a branch of London’s Royal Mint, refined gold from Western Australia’s goldfields and struck gold sovereign coins for the British Empire.

Behind the majestic wrought iron gates locked to the public for more than 90 years, The Perth Mint now unveils a wealth of treasures. It is one of the world's oldest mints still working from its original building. Now it still produces legal tender precious metal coins and commemorative medallions for investors and collectors around the world, and trades in bullion.

The "Gold Exhibition" displays Australia's biggest collection of nuggets. You can watch the minting of gold coins, handle a 400-ounce gold bar, and engrave your own medallion. Tours start with a guided heritage walk on the half-hour, and lead on to a traditional gold pouring demonstration in the original Melt House– the highlight of the Gold Exhibition. The shop sells gold coins and nugget jewellery, and the Tea Garden provides a quiet spot to relax.

Admission: Adults AUD9.90; children AUD4.40; Concession AUD7.70; Family (2 adults, 2 children) AUD24.

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