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U.S. Mint Tour – Denver

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Denver Mint Tour is currently closed. While there is no timeline of when the tours may start again, you can check their website for updates.

The United States Mint has been manufacturing money in Denver for nearly as long as the city has been around. The Mint is located at West Colfax Avenue and Delaware Street in downtown Denver.

Denver was founded in 1859, a year after gold was first discovered in Colorado. On April 21, 1862, the Denver Mint was established. Once the gold was discovered, there needed to be a place to make amazing gold coins. Today, the Denver Mint makes coin dies, stores silver bullion and mints coins.

They share in producing the circulating coins with the Philadelphia Mint, which covers the eastern half of the country, while Denver takes care of the west.

The Denver Mint is one of the most historic buildings in Colorado. Listed on the national and Denver historic register, it’s modeled after the Medici Riccardi Palazzo, a Renaissance palace located in Florence, Italy. It’s one of the top ten places to visit in the metro area.

Mint coins made here include:

Circulating coins
Numismatic products, such as annual uncirculated coin sets
Commemorative coins as authorized by Congress

United States Mint Tour at Denver Facility

Free guided tours are offered year-round. See how the United States Government produces billions of coins every year. There’s a Mint Gift Shop, with unique souvenirs and historic coins. Everyone on the tour gets a free bag of shredded dollars. Six tours are typically held per day, lasting about 45 minutes.

Adults need photo IDs. Please arrive 30 minutes before the scheduled tour time. The tour is ADA accessible.

Requirements

Children must be 7 years or older. Pick up your free tour ticket at the tour booth, located by the Gift Shop entrance on Cherokee Street, tucked in between West Colfax and 14th Avenue. The tour booth is open Monday to Thursday at 7 am until all the day’s tour tickets have been allotted.

Only same-day tours are available, first-come, first-serve. The limit is five tickets per person. Peak times are all summer, Memorial Day through Labor Day, Spring Break in March, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year. Visitors often come at 5 am just to get their spot.

Purses and bags are prohibited and they do not have lockers for storage. Strollers, food, drinks, tobacco, and lighters are also prohibited. Everyone will pass through a security screening. There’s no parking provided, yet you can find metered spots on the street nearby, as well as pay lots. Cameras must be off while on the tour and photography is not permitted.

If you want to learn more about the history of money, head down to Colorado Springs for the ANA Money Museum .

Address: 320 West Colfax Ave, Denver , CO 80204

Phone: 303-572-9500

Season: Year-round

Website: usmint.gov…

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Tips for Visiting the United States Mint in Denver

TripSavvy / Vincent Mercer

Denver's early settlers came for the gold. So it makes sense that the city, to this day, is producing riches, right?

The U.S. Mint in Denver is one of four mints in the country that produces coins, and visitors can get an insider look at what happens in this money-making factory.

The other three coin mints are located in Philadelphia, San Francisco and West Point, N.Y. The main U.S. Mint in Washington, D.C., is the only one in the country to print paper currency.

First, a little history: The U.S. Mint in Denver began producing pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters in 1906. The Denver Mint also produced foreign coins for countries such as Argentina, Mexico and Israel. However, the U.S. Mint has not struck foreign coins since 1984. Every year, the U.S. Mint in Denver produces billions of coins for the American public.

The U.S. Mint in Denver and the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia are the only two mints that offer public tours, which is one of the reasons it's a popular tour among locals and tourists alike. After the tour in Denver, you can pop in the gift shop and buy one-of-a-kind coins and souvenirs.

Here's what you need to know before touring the U.S. Mint in Denver.

Hours and Admission

The U.S. Mint in Denver offers free, 45-minute tours of its production facility from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday through Thursday.

No cameras, food, backpacks or weapons are allowed on the tour.

Visitors also must pass through security screening to enter the Mint.

The U.S. Mint in Denver is closed on federal holidays.

Admission to the U.S. Mint in Denver is free, but reservations are required for the tours.

You can nab your free tour tickets at the "Tour Information" window located at the Gift Shop entrance gate on Cherokee Street, between West Colfax Avenue and West 14th Avenue. The Tour Information window opens at 7 a.m., Monday- Thursday (excluding observed federal holidays), and will remain open until all tickets have been distributed. Tickets are for same-day tours, and more advanced reservations can't be made. You're limited to reserving five tickets. Worth noting: During peak travel times, such as Spring Break and Winter Break, tickets become more limited because they are in such high demand. Visitors often arrive as early as 5 a.m. to secure their tickets.

The U.S. Mint offers six tours a day. The times are: 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

About the Tour

The free tours are limited to around 50 people per tour, and a Mint guide takes visitors through the production process. Visitors are not allowed on the production floor, but can view machines from windows looking down on the manufacturing process. Security guards accompany tours at all times. Tours are not recommended for children younger than age seven.

After the tour, visitors can purchase Mint merchandise such as T-shirts and piggy banks at the gift shop currently located in a small trailer. However, no coin sales are conducted at the gift shop besides automated machines that exchange dollar bills for $1 coins. To purchase coin sets, visit the U.S. Mint online store .

Directions and Address

The U.S. Mint in Denver is located on West Colfax Avenue near the City & County Building and Denver Police. From I-25, exit on Colfax Avenue and head east toward downtown Denver. The Mint is located between Delaware Street and Cherokee Street.

The U.S. Mint in Denver 320 W. Colfax Ave. Denver, CO 80204

Each U.S. Mint strikes a mintmark on its coins. Coin enthusiasts can identify coins produced at the Denver Mint by looking for a 'D.'
The U.S. Mint was formed on April 2, 1792 with the Coinage Act of 1792.
The U.S. Mint in Denver produced the first Congressional Medal.

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United States Mint

Price & Hours

Facilities 3.0
Atmosphere 4.0

Even if you hate the sound of excess change rattling around your pockets, you'll find a tour of the Denver branch of the United States Mint to be an interesting way to spend an hour or so. Having opened in 1863, its purpose was to transform the Gold Rush's findings into coinage. Today, the U.S. Mint in Denver can produce up to 50 million coins a day.

A free guided tour of the U.S. Mint in Denver will allow you the opportunity to learn more about each stage of coin production, from the design and sculpting of each piece to the cutting of each type of coin. Some recent visitors marveled at the coin-making machines, but say that not all travelers will likely find it enthralling.

You'll find the U.S. Mint in downtown Denver near the Denver Art Museum. You can easily get there on foot from the Capitol Hill area and LoDo, or you can hop aboard the Nos. 9, 16 or 52 buses – all of which stop within walking distance of the mint. The museum is also a featured stop on many of the best Denver tours . Admission to the U.S. Mint is free, and open to those age 7 and older. Same-day tour tickets are distributed beginning at 7 a.m. each day until they run out. It's recommended visitors should get there early to grab tickets. They are first-come, first-serve and there is a five-ticket max per person. No advance tickets for tours will be given out. The mint is open to visitors Mondays through Thursdays (excluding national holidays); tours are offered beginning at 8 a.m. with the final tour departing at 3:30 p.m. You must arrive at least 30 minutes prior to your tour time in order to clear security. You are not allowed to carry any handbags, backpacks, strollers, food or beverages with you when you tour the facility. For more information or to schedule a tour, visit the U.S. Mint's website .

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