A TOUR OF THE ROYAL MINT - PART ONE

Police and security officers at the staff entrance inspect our pass-card before the door is activated, no matter how well they know us – and that means everyone, even the Chief Executive. The pass-card is issued following strict security-checks and any loss of it must be reported to a police station immediately. Once in, we pass through secure turnstiles and an airport-style x-ray machine. We are also subject to random searches by the Police on departure, and there are search rooms nearby, just in case!

Although thousands of coins leave here every day, no-one may bring coins into The Royal Mint. Because of this, daily workplace transactions, such as office and charity collections or buying a canteen lunch, are undertaken without the use of coins. This entails exchanging bank-notes or coins for tokens with a monetary value at Reception, or loading value onto a card using bank-notes or tokens.

Visitors come in through a separate entrance and are escorted on site at all times by a member of staff. They are advised that coins, cameras, laptops and smoking items must be left in lockers at Reception. This is rigorously applied, even when the Bank of England visited us recently.

An impressive exhibition in the Visitors Reception holds current and historic coins, medals and other artefacts.

A ‘Roll of Honour’ in a glass case shows the names of four Royal Mint employees who sadly lost their lives when a bomb hit the Royal Mint building at Tower Hill in London on 13 June 1917. One of them is listed as a ‘Boy Clerk’. Poignantly, it also records the names of staff members who died in active service during the First World War, some of whom were awarded medals that were made at The Royal Mint by their own colleagues.

To read the complete article, see: Inside The Royal Mint – Part one – through the gates (blog.royalmint.com/inside-the-royal-mint-part-one-through-the-gates/)

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