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Published: March 14th 2006
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Denver Greyhound depot
The first thing I see in Denver after I alight the bus... (This post is almost 3 months overdue... Although the diary date is 23 Dec 05, I'm posting this on 14 Mar o6... After my US trip, I returned to Singapore, where my new university term started. Back in Singapore, I was so busy with work that I barely had time to post my travel-blogs. Now, I post this blog first. Hopefully I will post my other blogs soon, if I have the time... I apologize for the delay...)
After spending more than 9 hours on the Greyhound bus from Salt Lake City, I finally reached Denver at around 6am. The sky was still dark and the weather outside was cold and windy, so I stayed in the Greyhound depot to upload photos into my laptop and recharge the battery of my mobile phone. At around 8am, I made my way to the US Mint, because I signed up for a tour at 9am. (The mint I'm talking about is a place which makes coins, not a candy which contains peppermint.)
There are 4 mints in the United States, but only 2 mints (Denver and Philadephia) offer tours of their interior. I was fascinated with money (who isn't?) and was
curious about the coin-making process. Since I would be visiting Denver and there's a mint in Denver, I decided to join a tour of the mint (which is admission-free). However, in order to join a tour of the Denver mint, I needed to register online at the US Mint website 2 weeks in advance. The mint doesn't allow any personal belongings, except for a palm-sized wallet holding money and important cards. Hence, I had to leave all my belongings, including my camera, mobile phone, water bottle, and umbrella, in the locker at Denver Greyhound depot, before making my way to the US Mint. I only carried the confimation letter from US Mint, my passport, my wallet and a map of Denver. When I arrived at the mint, I was told that the mint was not open yet, so I visited the US Mint gift shop next door. 10 minutes later, the mint finally opened its gate. While entering the mint, every visitor had to undergo a very thorough security check. (Security is very important, since the mint makes money everyday.)
Inside the mint, we first saw an exhibit on the history of coins. There is a display of coins
A government building
I forgot the name of the building... Nevertheless the building looks grand and important. from various eras and various places around the world. There's also a display showing the development of the US coin system. (There are some interesting facts. E.g. US coins used to contain silver in the past, but silver was no longer used after 1970.) After viewing the exhibits, we were led into a corridor, where a guide came and introduced us to the history and the functions of the mint. After the talk, the guide led us into a gallery, where we can view the coin-stamping machines at work behind large glass windows. Rolls of metal sheets were sent to a cutter and the cutter cut out blank coins from the metal sheets. The blank coins were then transported to coin-stamping machines which collected the blank coins via a conveyor belt and stamped the patterns onto the coins with a 40-tonne pressure at a rate of 750 coins per minute. (The pressure and rate vary slightly for the different coins.) According to the guide, the coin which has the highest production rate is the one cent coin. In fact, the amount of one cent coins produced is half the amount of all the coins produced (one cent + one nickel
A church and a skyscraper
It is interesting to see a tall gleaming skyscraper surrounding a church and how the traditional and modern elements interact with each other. + one dime + one quarter + half-dollar + one dollar). (I dunno why Americans like the one cent coin so much. In Singapore, the one cent coin was eliminated several years ago and all the prices in Singapore were rounded to the nearest 5 cents.) In the mint, the guide also introduced the 50 states quarter program. Every year, 5 US states would be featured at the back of quarter coins and these "state quarters" would be circulated just like any coin. Each state quarter has a different design. After a 10 year period from 1999 to 2008, all the 50 States would be featured. (In fact, during my stay in USA, I managed to collect many state quarters.) Towards the end of the tour, the guide talked about the history of the building. The original building occupied by the US Mint was opened in 1904, and over the decades, new extensions and expansions were built around the building. Now, the mint covered an entire city block. The guide brought us to the original 1904 building, where we saw some of the original features of the building, like the lightings, flooring, staircase railings, doors, and even a security safe
which used to hold part of the USA's gold!
After the tour of the US mint, I went back to the Greyhound depot to collect some of my belongings (camera, mobile phone, and other essential stuffs). Then I made my way to Civic Center Park. The park is a large open space in the middle of Downtown Denver. To the west of the park stands the magnificent Denver City & County Building. To the east stands the majestic Colorado State Capitol. To the south stand the Denver Public Library and Denver Art Museum. The Civic Center Park itself contains a Greek amphitheater, fountains, trees, and large grass fields. The park is such a pleasant and delightful place, as one would rarely see such an open space in the downtown area of other American cities.
I entered the Colorado State Capitol and joined the free tour of the capitol. The guide brought me to various parts of the capitol, including the House chamber and Senate chamber. On the 3rd floor, below the dome, there was a display of USA presidents' portraits, from the very first president George Washington to the very recent president George Bush. At the 1st floor
Reflections
It's interesting to see how the image of a skyscraper is reflected on the glass wall of anotehr skyscraper... rotunda, impressive murals depicting the use of water in the state's development decorate the wall. There are some interesting facts about the capitol. When the capitol was built in 1886, the dome was first sheathed in copper, but later replaced with gold leaf in 1908 because copper tarnished easily and it was not a Colorado product. Another interesting fact is that, if you stand on the 18th step of the west entrance, you're exactly 1 mile above sea level. (In fact, Denver is called the "Mile High City" because the city is located around 1 mile above sea level.)
In the afternoon, I took a walk around Downtown Denver. I walked past the Colorado Convention Center, through Denver Performing Arts Complex (a new complex comprising of 7 theaters and a symphony hall), through Larimer Square (Denver's oldest commercial district), and along 16th Street (a pedestrian mall lined with many trees, many shops and many cafes). I also visited the historic Union Station (currently still in use as an Amtrak station), before returning to the Greyhound depot to wait for the next bus to Albuquerque. (It would be my 3rd consecutive night sleeping on a Greyhound bus. I couldn't believe
I was strong enough to endure 4 days 3 nights without a proper sleep on a bed and without a shower.)
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Fred
non-member comment
Nice Job.
Heading out to Denver in a few weeks. Appreciated your input, very informative. Thank you