The story of this place
When the Perth Mint opened on June 20, 1899, Western Australia's gold rush was in full swing. Prospectors were pulling millions of pounds of gold from the ground, but had nowhere to refine it locally. The Mint changed everything. Between 1899 and 1931, it produced over 106 million gold sovereigns—coins that became the currency of empire, circulating throughout the British Commonwealth.
But the Mint's most remarkable achievement came in 2011, when it created the world's largest gold coin: a one-tonne monster worth A$53.5 million, made from 99.99% pure gold. In 1957, the Mint achieved 'arguably the purest of all gold'—a sample of 999.999 parts per thousand fine gold that became the international benchmark. Today, the original furnaces still glow orange as gold is poured in daily demonstrations.