Berlin Mint Tour - Outstanding!

 

Day two in Berlin brought an extraordinary tour of the Berlin Mint, courtesy of Michael Wieneke, of the Ministry of Finance. We met first with Gerd-Wolfgang Radusch of Mint Quality Management, who escorted us to the office of Mint Director Dr. Andreas Schikora. We had a wonderful chat and were able to do some filming with Dr. Schikora for a later internet broadcast.

Afterwards, Mr. Radusch took us on an all access tour of the mint. We were able to see all working areas of the mint from die cutting to coin striking, from quality control to packaging. I had the time of my life and was able to take pictures and ask questions to my hearts delight. I even overheard one of my co-workers discussing my enthusiasm with Radusch. His response was positive, so I don’t think I wore out my welcome. A slide show presentation of some of our photos from our tour can be viewed on NumisMaster, so please stop over and take a look.

The Berlin Mint is housed in a building which used to be a glass factory and the light airy feeling posed a stark contrast to other mints that fellow visitor Dave Harper and I had toured in the past. This open appearance aids the mint on keeping security high, there really is no unseen spot within the building.

We were able to talk with many mint personnel, all of whom were very pleasant in answering our questions and explaining their functions at the mint. In the die cutting area we learned quite a bit about modern computer use in transferring data from plaster cast to automated die cutting equipment. We watched die polishers and engravers do the finest of detail work, saw proof coins being struck and observed the quality control staff in action. But the most fun for me was touring through the main floor where the circulation coins are struck. Those machines are so high precision, so very fast and efficient. We caught coins coming out of the ejectors and they were quite warm, which makes sense, though I had never before given it a moments thought.

After a stop in the rolling and packaging area and the mechanics work room, Radusch was kind enough to bring us through some collection displays, including displays of coins struck at the old DDR Berlin Mint. Some interesting things turned up in those cases, which I’ll cover at a later time, as the bourse is closing for the night.

Friday Fix

London pm fixes for 2-1-08

Gold $914.75

Silver $17.19

Platinum $1755.00

Palladium $410.50

Explosive Morning For Precious Metals

All four of the precious metals we numismatists follow regularly are exploding with investor demand this morning. Buying is skyrocketing on concern over possible shortages of gold, anticipation of tough economic times on the horizon and a desire to secure a solid inflation hedge with a position in the currently ultrapopular commodity.

New record highs were established this morning for Gold at $919 and Platinum near $1690. Silver and Palladium are not far behind, with spot prices riding at nearly $16.50 and $380 respectively, at the time of this posting.

 

Tom's Recommended Film of the Week

I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry

I Watch a lot of movies. If a new release looks interesting I'll watch it eventually. Sometimes I don't expect much, sometimes I'm anticipating too much. That colors my post viewing opinion of a film. For instance, when I watched Stuck on You, I thought it would be pretty bad, so when it was really well done I was most impressed. On the other hand I was anxiously anticipating a good film when I watched Smokin' Aces, so my dissappointment mas multiplyed by a factor of my anticipation when the film fell flat.

This weeks film, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, was one of those films I didn't expect too much from. I like Adam Sandler very much in most of his films, and being an Everybody Loves Raymond fan, I think Kevin James has been wonderful on his TV stints on that show and his own show, The King of Queens. They created my interest in this film, but I expected the writing to take the low road and go for the cheap laughs without offering any higher elements. Never-the-less it seemed worth a try.

Lucky for me the writing team included Alexander Payne, who wrote and directed two of my favorite edgy humor films, Election and Sideways. Payne was an excellent choice to create a film with heart and outstanding humor. So I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry was a pleasant surpirse, with compassion and plenty of big laughs to keep any viewer interested and entertained.

Fire at RCM in Winnipeg

The Royal Canadian Mint facility in Winnipeg experienced a fire early Sunday evening which caused about $300,000 in damage. Fire officials think the cause may have been an electrical short near an electroplating vat.

In terms of building I think that Winnipeg may be the more current of the two mint plants operated by the RCM, having been built in the mid 1970's and opened in 1976. Ottawa may be an older building dating back to 1908, but I think it has more high tech equipement in use today, as it stikes the majority of commemorative coins, while Winnipeg does the circulation issues, using modern highspeed equipment.

This is at least the third fire at the Winnipeg plant of the RCM since 2005. A fire in 2007 closed down the coin plating line. Problems with sprinkler installation have been a sore point for the RCM and were at the root of the second fire.

Visitors can get a tour of the Winnipeg manufacturing plant for $5.00, though I am not sure how this fire might effect that option. The RCM Headquarters at Ottawa can also be toured for the same price. Seeing that the RCM tends to be an innovator in the world of commemorative coinage, touring their facilities might be well worthy of a summer trip.