We got to visit the Royal Canadian Mint, which was pretty sweet. They made the medals for the Winter Olympics. The medals are the first ever to be wavy and each one has a print from a larger scene – so no two medals are the same, and all the medals awarded came with a print of the larger picture and where that medal fit into it. They really are gorgeous pieces of work. I believe the tour guide told us they had to specially design a machine to make the medal wavy and then used a machine to laser etch the designs.
We got a chance to see them making collector's coins and coins that are sold for the value of their metal. They both have different processes because the people buying them are looking for different things. For instance, the collector's coins have to have their images printed spot on in order for them to be released, and they also can't have any fingerprints on them at all. If either is off, the coin is melted down again and reprocessed. The coins that are sold for their value have to be weighed and their purity ascertained to within a certain amount. Otherwise, they are reprocessed. The collector's coins are also stamped individually by the people who work there! It looked like it took them a long time.
It's really expensive to set up a mint, too, so the Canadian Royal Mint does coins for a number of different countries. The only one I really remember is Barbados, but they had a whole wall of foreign coins that they've printed, especially for smaller countries.
For other places we went to, we visited the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Their Canada Hall is pretty spectacular. It's a replica of old Canadian towns, and it really feels like you're stepping into that time and place. The other museum we visited was the National Gallery of Canada – no pictures allowed. They have an amazing First Nations exhibit downstairs, and a great selection of modern and American and European art upstairs. We had a lot of fun with the exhibit in the garden where the artist invited guests to manipulate steel beams into a shape they liked.
So, I suggest if you manage to make it up here one semester that you take advantage of the trips. They're absolutely fantastic.
