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does the denver mint do tours

Denver Mint Review: A Billion Reasons to Visit This Shiny Establishment [2023]

The Denver Mint is a fascinating destination where visitors can witness the production of thousands of freshly minted coins that circulate in the American economy.

As one of the few US Mint facilities offering tours, it provides an opportunity to explore the history and process of coin production firsthand.

With its rich architectural heritage and extensive collection of historic and collectible coins, the Denver Mint offers a unique and memorable experience for coin enthusiasts and curious visitors alike.

However, securing tour tickets may require some planning and patience and it’s not always so easy, so in this article I will tell you everything you need to know in order to have a memorable visit to the Denver Mint .

Table of Contents

What is the Denver Mint?

The US Mint is a federal agency responsible for producing and circulating coins in the United States. The Denver Mint is one of several production facilities operated by the US Mint, alongside those in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and West Point. (Denver and Philadelphia are the only sites offering tours.)

The US Mint Denver primarily focuses on the production of circulating coins, including pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and half-dollars. It also produces uncirculated collector sets, commemorative coins, and coin dies.

The Denver Mint has a rich history, having been around as an assay office since the Colorado Gold Rush days in the 1860s. But it wasn’t until 1906 that the Denver Mint had its first coin struck, soon minting about 2.1 million gold and silver coins in one year.

Today, it makes billions of coins per year and continues to be an essential component of the US coinage system.

Denver Mint entrance gate

How to tour the Denver Mint

When it comes to visiting the Denver Mint, it’s worth knowing that it differs from a typical museum experience where you simply walk up, enter the building, and immediately immerse yourself in the sights.

You cannot purchase tickets online for your Denver Mint visit and instead you need to snag these in person .

Tour tickets can be obtained from the Tour Information Window located on Cherokee Street, situated between Colfax Avenue and West 14th Avenue. Once you get close to the area, you’ll see a lot of signs pointing you towards the Mint so it’s really hard to miss.

Denver Mint sign

The window opens at 7 a.m. from Monday to Thursday (excluding federal holidays), and it will continue to operate until all tickets have been distributed.

As for the tour schedule, tours are offered Monday through Thursday (excluding observed federal holidays) at 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m., and 3:30 p.m.

However, please take note: tour schedules and availability fluctuate daily. There may be occasions when tours are unavailable, and cancellations may occur without prior notice.

Tours will also be closed on the following days:

  • May 29, 2023
  • June 19, 2023
  • July 4, 2023
  • September 4, 2023
  • October 9, 2023
  • November 9, 2023
  • December 25, 2023

Tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis and are limited to 5 per person . Also, all visitors must be 7 years and older.

Because these are issued on a first come, first serve basis, you really want to arrive there early to secure your tickets.

Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, it gets very busy here and it can become more difficult to secure tickets which is why a lot of people arrive extra early . We were told stories of people essentially camping out on the street!

The busiest days of the week are Monday and Thursday because it’s the first and last day available for the tours so if you’re trying to make it easier on yourself Tuesday and Wednesday may be the best days to go.

If you arrive in the morning during the peak times, there will likely be a line forming outside of the ticket gate and because there are only 20 (sometimes 23) slots available per tour, this means that some people may be turned away.

When it gets really busy, an agent will walk down the line taking down the preferred tour times of each visitor so that they can quickly figure out when they are at capacity.

At some point, they may have to turn people away so it’s good to have a back up plan such as visiting the Colorado State Capitol and doing a tour there (which is also free), strolling around Civic Center Park , or checking out one of the many awesome museums in the area.

By the way, this being a federal building containing billions of dollars, they are pretty strict about what you can bring and not bring in. Here are the items that are prohibited and permitted during your visit to the Denver Mint:

Prohibited Items:

  • Purses, bags, backpacks
  • Food and drink
  • Lighters and matches
  • Weapons including pocket knives
  • Personal protective devices

Permitted Items:

  • Palm-sized wallet that fits in pocket
  • Powered off cameras/ cell phones
  • Umbrellas, walkers, wheelchairs
  • Empty water bottles
  • Medical necessities

Denver Mint ticket window

Where should you park and how much time do you need?

The tour is 45 minutes but you need to arrive there 30 minutes prior to your scheduled tour so you will be looking at at least one hour and 15 minutes of total time dedicated to the tour.

You also will likely want to visit the gift shop afterwards so depending on your interest, that could take you another 15 minutes or more to check out.

This means that you probably want to give yourself about 90 minutes of parking at a minimum.

But if you plan on arriving before the Mint opens as we did, you may want to give yourself two hours of parking which is the maximum amount the meters allow on the street.

Anytime we venture to Downtown Denver in this area we simply park at the Cultural Center Complex Garage. We gave ourselves four hours of parking which was plenty of time and that gave us additional time to explore some of the area near Civic Center Park.

does the denver mint do tours

Experiencing the Denver Mint

We arrived at 6:30 AM and were the first people in line so we knew we would be guaranteed a spot on the earliest slot beginning at 8 AM.

But this meant that we would have to be waiting around for about 30 minutes which wasn’t bad because the weather was okay but in other cases you may be standing outside in bad weather.

They do allow you to bring umbrellas so you could always bring one of those but make sure to keep an eye on the weather if you plan on arriving early.

There was an attendant outside who was chatting it up with us and other visitors while we waited for the ticket gate to open up. If you have any questions this is a good time to get some clarification but keep in mind your tour guide will have a lot of information to offer later on.

At 7 AM, the gates were opened and we were able to approach the ticket booth where we were issued two separate tickets with our tour information stamped on.

does the denver mint do tours

On your tickets, you’ll be reminded of the rules for visiting which are pretty strict so don’t forget about them!

Once we were given our tickets we then had 30 minutes to kill. One thing you can do to pass some time is to stroll around the block.

Be sure to check out the front of the Denver Mint building (facing Colfax) which has a really impressive entrance.

You can’t go in past the gate but if you could enter, you’d be astonished by the beauty of the Tennessee marble window surrounds and red and white marble from Vermont which is used for the walls of the interior.

It also boasts beautiful brass and stained glass chandeliers manufactured from Manhattan along with Vincent Aderente murals.

While you can’t check out the interior, you can still snap a pretty good photo of the exterior from the sidewalk or the steps. It’s hard not to be impressed by the Gothic renaissance architecture as this building was modeled after the Medici Ricciardi Palace in Florence, Italy.

Denver Mint exterior

It’s an interesting building because when viewed from the street it appears to only be two stories high but it’s actually a five story building. Take note of the beautiful stone exterior which is granite sourced from Arkins Quarry, west of Loveland, Colorado.

Denver Mint exterior

You can also just walk around the block to get a sense of how big the Denver Mint facility is.

Throughout the years, additional sections have been added to meet the growing demands for space.

However, like the ups and downs of financial markets, the expansion process hasn’t always followed a seamless trajectory.

Not all of the additions met the aesthetic preferences of the public, leading to discontent among Denver residents. Lots of outcry and debate went down. At one juncture, concerns arose regarding the capacity of the existing facilities, raising serious deliberations about relocating to Littleton, just outside Denver. Of course, this was blasphemy to some locals.

Denver Mint doors

As you walk around and try to piece together the new sections, you might encounter some delivery trucks along the way. It’s best to avoid getting in their way, naturally.

Denver Mint delivery truck

If you want to go beyond the block, you could venture a little bit downtown or just sit around by the tour entrance gate which is just down the sidewalk from where you are issued your ticket. Just don’t venture too far though because they will not admit to you if you are late.

Denver Mint

At 7:30 AM a friendly federal police officer lined us up along the railing and discussed everything we needed to know about the tour.

In essence, they reiterated the prohibited items, such as weapons, bags, food and drink, and because this is Colorado they emphasized that you should avoid bringing items inside that are allowed at the state level but not at the federal level (i.e., marijuana).

Another big thing that you have to do is to completely power off your cell phone.

You can’t have it on anywhere inside of the facility and you’re also not allowed to take photos of any kind. Kind of a bummer especially for a travel blogger like myself but obviously understandable given the potential security issues involved.

Then it was time to go through security which is your typical walk through metal detector experience.

Their metal detectors are programmed to be extra sensitive, so if you have bulky jewelry items that sometimes set off metal detectors at the airport, there is a high chance that those will go off here.

After passing through security, you’ll find a two-level museum where you can explore numerous exhibits that delve into the history of currency worldwide.

It’s pretty interesting to see how civilizations have utilized different materials to exchange goods such as spices, jewels, etc. Who knew you once could pay taxes with peppercorn?

This is also where we received our complementary souvenir — an uncirculated penny and accompanying blank! Pretty cool.

Denver mint penny blank

They also have bathrooms and a water fountain inside here (with water bottle refill station).

Once you get done exploring you can have a seat on one of the benches in the hallway on the second floor which is where the experience is going to begin.

They will play a short introduction video that gives you a good overview of the different US Mint facilities around the country. From the fortified stronghold of Fort Knox, where unimaginable treasures are safeguarded, to the prestigious grounds of West Point, learn about the different areas each location specializes in.

Once you have completed the video, it is time to proceed and enter the facility. Inside, you will have the opportunity to observe the bustling activity of the minting process through expansive windows.

Fun fact: The Denver Mint makes an appearance in the 1993 Sylvester Stallone film “Cliffhanger.”

Since this is a factory, it’s somewhat unpredictable and it’s possible that you won’t see any coins getting minted but it sounds like that would be very rare.

In our case, we saw droves of coins getting minted including jackpots of pennies and dimes.

These were coming out at an incredibly fast pace which makes sense considering that the Denver Mint has a production capacity of more than 50 million coins a day!

How do you know if your coins from the Denver Mint? Look for the “D” as seen below on the quarter.

Quarter showing letter D for Denver mint

As you watch freshly minted coins make their way through the factory conveyor belts en route to counting machines, you can learn about the entire minting process including: blanking, annealing, upsetting, striking, and waffling.

There’s actually a lot of jargon to digest but it’s a fun learning experience and really cool to makes sense of all of the rhythmic machine movements you’re witnessing below you in the factory.

In addition to watching the pressing process, you’ll be able to check out some interesting artifacts that take you through the history of minting like the Millionaire Calculating Machine  used at the Denver Mint in the early 1900s to calculate deposits of gold and silver.

After getting down the basics of the minting process, we then moved along into an area focused on quarters.

I was always vaguely aware of the special quarters that were issued over the past couple of decades but our visit to the mint helped me to get a clearer picture and honestly created some interest in collecting these.

We were able to get a good overview of the State Quarters Program (1999 to 2008), America the Beautiful Quarters Program (2010 to 2021), and the new American Women Quarters which will feature five new coins every year through 2025.

This new collection will feature the lives of extraordinary woman throughout the US history like Eleanor Roosevelt and Bessie Coleman, the first African American and first Native American woman licensed pilot.

Viewing a wide range of well-preserved coins up close, their pristine condition gleaming brightly, sparked a true sense of appreciation within me. I definitely gained a deeper understanding of the immense effort and skill required to create these miniature masterpieces.

(The artists create these at the Philadelphia Mint which is just another reason why it would be worth visiting the one on the East Coast.)

Another highlight is being able to see over $2 million in gold bars with your own eyes although don’t expect to get too close. And don’t get any ideas. The Denver Mint has its own intriguing history involving an attempted gold smuggling incident, which you’ll learn all about during the tour.

What’s truly mind-boggling is that the gleaming gold you lay your eyes on is just the mere tip of the colossal gilded iceberg. Prepare to be amazed as your guide reveals the staggering amount of gold that is securely guarded by the Mint. It’s like a Rocky Mountain Gringotts down there.

Gold bars

In between checking out collections of uncirculated coins, unique exhibits, and watching thousands of dollars worth of coins prepare to enter the world’s largest economy, your tour guide will be filling you in on a lot of interesting details about the Mint’s history and will also be fielding questions from guests like a pro.

Our tour guide, Michael, was also very knowledgeable and fun and gave us a whole lot of insight!

After we wrapped up the tour, we decided to check out the gift shop which I would highly recommend.

If you are a coin collector or just getting started in coin collecting, this gift shop is going to have a lot to offer you. They had all types of novelty items and as you would expect an extensive selection of historic coins that would make for terrific gifts.

In addition to all of the collectible items, they also had a lot of the standard souvenir items you’d expect to find.

The Denver Mint is quite simply a unique experience. it’s not every day that you get to watch thousands of coins get freshly minted on the way to the American economy. While getting your ticket and admission into the Mint is not as easy as a standard tour, it’s worth the extra hassle to experience something so special.

does the denver mint do tours

Daniel Gillaspia is the Founder of UponArriving.com and the credit card app, WalletFlo . He is a former attorney turned travel expert covering destinations along with TSA, airline, and hotel policies. Since 2014, his content has been featured in publications such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and CNBC. Read my bio .

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Only in Denver: U.S. Mint Tour

Denver is home to one of only two mints in the United States, producing nearly 50 million coins a day.

But a common question is, what’s it doing here?

The Colorado gold rush that began in 1858 brought thousands of miners and settlers to the territory, resulting in the founding of towns like Denver, Auraria, Breckenridge and Golden. It also created a need to turn that newly discovered gold into currency, as the closest U.S. Mint facilities were in San Francisco to the west and New Orleans to the east — both a long, often treacherous haul by wagon.

To meet this need, the banking firm of Clark, Gruber & Co. established a private mint in 1860 in their offices at the corner of 16 th and Market Streets. Miners brought in gold dust and nuggets to be turned into gold bars and coins. The U.S. Treasury Department purchased the building and opened a United States Assay office in 1863. A decade later, Congress granted the facility the ability to produce coins for the United States and foreign countries, and in 1895 it became an official branch of the United States Mint.

To keep pace with the rapid growth of the West (and the need for U.S. currency in general), Congress approved plans for a much larger Denver Mint, and the current site at West Colfax Avenue was purchased in 1896, for about $60,000. The new Italian Renaissance-style building was modeled after a Florentine palace and took eight years to complete, finally opening in 1904. Coin production in the new facility started two years later, now including both silver and gold.

Although the Denver Mint struck its last gold coins in the early 1930s, the legacy of this gold rush institution lives on. Today, the Denver Mint is the largest producer of coins in the world. Output can exceed 50 million coins a day, including circulating coins (the ones that pile up on your dresser and in your kids’ piggy banks), commemorative coins authorized by Congress and uncirculated coin sets that are struck on special presses each year as collectors’ items. The facility also manufactures coin dies and stores silver bullion.

Ironically, Denver’s biggest “money making” attraction won’t cost you a penny to visit. Free, 45-minute guided tours of the Denver Mint are available Monday through Thursday (excluding Federal holidays). All visitors must be 7 years and older. See the mint's latest policies. 

                                                                                                                                                                                             Lead image courtesy of Flickr Commons . 

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United States Mint Denver

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.

Denver Mint Fence Colorado

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

United States Mint Denver

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.

Denver Mint U.S. Dollar Bills

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 .

Denver Mint Tour Booth Sign

Address: 320 West Colfax Ave, Denver , CO 80204

Phone: 303-572-9500

Season: Year-round

Website: usmint.gov…

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United States Mint At Denver

does the denver mint do tours

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does the denver mint do tours

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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Denver Mint tours are worth their weight in gold

There are six u.s. mints, the denver mint is one of two offering tours..

Who would have thought that penny in your pocket could be so interesting…or that it was made just a few miles from my house at the Denver Mint? In fact, nearly all the coins in your pocket may be from Denver since the Denver Mint produced more than 8640 million coins that were put into circulation last year alone. Just one of the many little “money factoids” we picked up on our recent tour of the Denver Mint.

I’ve lived in Denver for 15 years and I have never visited the Denver Mint until this summer. Yet, it was the first thing recommended to me to visit…by my then 85-year-old grandmother who did a Denver Mint tour 40+ years ago. Every time I’ve talked to her since she’s asked if I’ve been. And, every time I had to say no. To be honest, I had never wanted to. I always thought it would be soooo booooaring. Then my kids started to learn about money at school…and were struggling…so it was time to take a closer look at Denver Mint tours. I thought that if they understood the context behind coins and seeing them being made it might spark their interest. I’m happy to report that it did, and it wasn’t boring. And, yes I did let my grandmother know I finally went.

Denver Mint Tour Reservations

I had no clue just how difficult it would be to actually get into do the free Denver Mint tour. You can’t just show up you need a reservation, which can be booked online. The Denver Mint releases available tour dates exactly 30 calendar days in advance at 12:00 am EST. (In other words, if you’re trying to book a tour in June, you can’t start trying to set it up until May 1.) During the summer, spaces fill up very quickly. The Denver Mint recommends visiting the website or calling the tour information line at 303-405-4761 for detailed information.

Last summer I tried for weeks to make a reservation but never could get in. This year I made it a priority and started trying in May, at 7am. I finally landed a tour on a Monday afternoon in June. I have to say I felt ever so accomplished!

What to Expect on Denver Mint Tours

There are six U.S. Mints in the United States but people can only tour two – the Denver Mint and the Philadelphia Mint. (The latter would be very interesting to visit if you have the chance given its historical value – it was the first federal building built under the United States Constitution.) My kids initially groaned about going to see how money was being made. Remember this is from two kids who are having a hard time learning about money, because after all isn’t it just on a plastic card? (OyeVye!) Yet, when we arrived for the Denver Mint tour and walked through the entry area filled with exhibits showcasing different types of currency used throughout the history of time their eyes began to open and the questions began to flow. Princess Two is a skilled reader these days so she was captivated with reading about the beads people used to trade as currency. The fashionestia in her was flabbergasted that people would wear coins as jewelry.

Denver Mint tours are worth their weight in gold. Not only is it a great learning experience for kids (and adults) it's one of the only places you can watch money in the making.

The historical lesson on currency during the initial walk through was fascinating and one I think a lot of people may overlook when they do a Denver Mint tour. I highly recommend you take your time to walk through and read each of the exhibits. The tour will begin 10-15 minutes after you enter, which should be enough time to get through everything.

Upon entrance for the Denver Mint tour each person is given a penny, well, kind of two pennies, but not really. One penny is stamped while the other is a copper coin that has yet to be stamped. This sets the stage for the tour through the Denver Mint where you will see thousands of pennies, nickels and dimes going from blank to artfully crafted coins.

Denver Mint tours are worth their weight in gold. Not only is it a great learning experience for kids (and adults) it's one of the only places you can watch money in the making.

The tour itself lasts about 30 minutes. A Denver Mint employee (and armed police guards) guide visitors through a few areas showcasing historical machinery previously used to craft coins. All the while you can watch today’s coins being stamped through glass windows on the floor below. You may just catch sight of one of the employees examining the coins for accuracy, every seven minutes they examine one coin in the batch.

The number of coins the Denver Mint produces each year is dependent of the years though. During the tour we learned that in 2008, when the economy was hurting, more people cashed in their jars of coins resulting in the Denver Mint not needing to produce new coins to put into circulation. In 2007 the Denver Mint produced 17 billion coins while in 2009 it only produced 4 billion. Coin production is all about supply and demand.

waffled coins at the denver mint

Throughout the tour the guide shares historical information and fun antidotes about the Denver Mint and its employees. Take Orville Harrington who in the 1920’s literally walked out of the Denver Mint with $80,000 worth of gold in pockets (now worth $6 million). I won’t ruin the story for you but it’s a good one… I will tell you that all the gold was recovered from his backyard, where it was buried.

I wasn’t able to photograph the last area during the tour for security reasons. It’s the vault. The one with a lot of gold. Real, beautiful and highly valuable gold. It’s a sight…

Denver Mint tours are worth their weight in gold. Not only is it a great learning experience for kids (and adults) it's one of the only places you can watch money in the making.

Denver Mint Tours & Security

The Denver Mint is a highly secure U.S. government facility. With that said, there are rules. A lot of rules. For one, no bags, purses or cameras. It’s spelled out online when you make the reservation but I was feeling so accomplished in getting a reservation that I overlooked this. Ok, I just didn’t read the fine print. So, when I showed up camera and notepad in hand to write a review afterwards I was told very nicely by the armed guard that it wasn’t going to happen. After running back to my car to drop things off, the Princesses and I did the tour. After a few emails with representatives at the Denver Mint I was allowed to come back and take photos with my kids on another tour (one they set up so I skipped the reservation headache!).

On this second tour, I wore a press pass and had a Denver Mint employee escorting me along with an armed police guard who then reviewed all my photos to ensure I didn’t capture something I shouldn’t have. That my friend is my point about security. Leave your cameras and bags at home. (Phones and cameras are allowed into the building, but both must be completely powered off. Pictures, phone calls, and texting are all prohibited while on the tour.)

Denver Mint tours are worth their weight in gold. Not only is it a great learning experience for kids (and adults) it's one of the only places you can watch money in the making.

Prohibited items on Denver Mint Tours

  • Handbags, purses, fanny packs, tote bags, backpacks and packages
  • Food, drinks, tobacco products, lighters and matches
  • Weapons, including pocket knives and personal protective devices such as pepper spray

Permitted items on Denver Mint Tours

  • A palm-sized wallet/change purse that will fit in your pocket
  • Cameras/cell phones (must be turned off before entering the building)
  • Medical items necessary for the safety and well-being of the visitor

America the Beautiful Quarter Program (Enter to Win!)

When I was in High School my mom gave me a quarter book for Christmas. All that came to mind when I opened it was, “Really?”. However, that quarter book quickly became interesting, and now rather valuable. Every night that I waited tables, which was a lot of nights throughout high-school and college, I would empty my tips and hold on to the new state quarters. Collecting the quarters became somewhat of a game for me, so much so that I had to get another book to fill… That quarter program ran between 1999-2008 and was very successful for the U.S. Mint, not to mention people like myself who now have two (almost) completed quarter books. Given its success, the U.S. Mint launched the America the Beautiful Quarters Program in 2010.

Denver Mint Tours - America the Great Quarter Program

This new 12-year initiative includes 56 quarters featuring reverse designs depicting some of our most cherished national parks and other national sites. The U.S. Mint will issue five new quarter designs per year, with one final design in 2021. This year – 2016 – celebrates the Centennial anniversary of the National Park Service. The coins tied to this year’s celebration include Shawnee National Forest, Cumberland Gap National Historic Park, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and Fort Moultrie (Fort Sumter National Monument).

Things to Know Before You Go On A Denver Mint Tour

  • The Denver Mint is a highly secure U.S. government facility. It is subject to Department of Homeland Security alerts; if the national security level are raised the Mint will close and tours will be cancelled.
  • All tours are free.
  • Make a reservation. You will not be able to get in without a reservation.
  • Have your reservation confirmation number with you, either printed from the email or saved on your phone. You will not be allowed to enter without it.
  • Visitors must arrive 30 minutes prior to the Denver Mint tour, this is very useful since parking can be terrible downtown. You should plan to either park at a meter or in one of the paid lots, fees will run around $15 for the day.
  • Do not take a purse or bag. It’s not allowed.
  • You will be asked to go through a metal detector upon entry.
  • Pictures are prohibited. (Phones and cameras are allowed into the building, but both must be completely powered off. Pictures, phone calls, and texting are all prohibited while on the tour.)
  • Phones must be turned off when you enter the Denver Mint.
  • Groups larger than 15 must make their reservations through the Office of Public Affairs at 303-405-4759 at least two weeks in advance.
  • There is a gift shop outside the entrance to the Denver Mint. You can buy commemorative coins here, t-shirts and all kinds of swag. I’d suggest getting your own America the Great quarter book (or enter to win one below!).

Location of the Denver Mint Tours

The Denver Mint is located in downtown Denver at 320 W. Colfax Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80204, across Cherokee Avenue from the Denver City and County Building.

All visitors must be at the tour entrance located on Cherokee Street 30 minutes prior to the start time . Late arrivals will not be admitted.

Denver Mint tours are worth their weight in gold. Not only is it a great learning experience for kids (and adults) it's one of the only places you can watch money in the making.

The Bottom Line for Denver Mint Tours

While my kids may still be having challenges counting money, they’re now more interested in identifying a coin, its worth and which U.S. Mint it was produced in; each coin is labeled with the initial of the U.S. Mint it calls home. They can also tell me all the metals used in the coins – magnesium, zinc, copper and nickel. My goal in peaking their interest in currency and helping them with it at school was accomplished. The educational aspect was definitely there but we also got the “wow factor” of seeing money being made right in front of your eyes. The Denver Mint tours are worth their weight in gold…and then some.

The Princess Rating: The Princesses rated the Denver Mint tours with two thumbs up. To be clear, this rating is for the first tour, according to Princess One, “the second wasn’t nearly as cool, only because I’d already done it”.

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Elaine N. Schoch

Elaine Schoch (pronounced the German way – Shock) is the editor and founder of Carpe Travel as well as an award-winning travel writer, wine judge, certified by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Level 2 and certified American Wine Expert. She is married to The Husband and has two kids, Princess One and Two – who’s interest and knowledge in wine is quite extensive. Not to mention the stamps in their passports.

11 Comments

Omg this was awesome. I would have thought it to be boring too. But this seemed very cool. To be honest I never thought about where coins come from but Damian asked me last week and then I saw your newsletter and had to drop by. I’ve definitely entered the contest (for Damian)!

Thanks! It really was very interesting… Good luck with the contest!

I have visited the Denver Mint many times! =)

It’s one of those tours that’s worth repeating!

Thirty+ years ago it seemed much more interesting – I don’t know if there was more to it all back then – or just the wonders of childhood.

Sounds like an awesome tour! But where are the other four Mint production facilities located in the United States that the general public is not allowed to visit?

You can do tours in Denver and Philadelphia. Other US Mint facilities include the headquarters in Washington, DC; West Point, NY; San Francisco, CA; and the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, KY.

So if cameras are not allowed why did you take pictures?

As I mentioned in the article, I was allowed to take pictures as I had been given approval as a member of the media. I had my own private guard walking with me to make sure my shots weren’t security issues and they checked each photo before I left the building to make sure they didn’t reveal any security issues.

Thanks for your blog post on your visit to the Denver Mint. My son really wants to go ( he loves collecting coins) however he is only 5. Were they strict on the must be 7 rule that is stated on their website?

They’re rules are strict…if the website states they must be seven, then I’d expect them to uphold that. You can always call to ask for a special permission.

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Money-Maker: Free Tours of the U.S. Mint of Denver. Here’s What You Need To Know

does the denver mint do tours

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Guided tours are offered at 8 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday ( no tours on Federal Holidays .) They run about 45 minutes. It’s very important that you note the revised procedure for getting tour tickets .

Tour tickets are available at the Tour Information window located at the Gift Shop entrance gate on Cherokee Street, between W. Colfax Ave. and W. 14th Avenue. The Tour Information window opens at 7 a.m. on Monday to Thursday, and remains open until all tickets have been distributed.

Tickets are for same-day tours only; no advance tickets are available . Tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis and are limited to 5 per person . All visitors must be age 7 or older.

You will need a photo ID and must show your ticket to gain entry. Lost tickets cannot be replaced and are non-transferable.

All visitors must be at the tour entrance located on Cherokee St. 30 minutes before their scheduled tour time. Late arrivals will not be admitted.  There is an extensive list of prohibited items, including all purses and bags. The Mint does not provide lockers or storage for any items.

The Mint does not provide parking, but there are meters and pay lots within a few blocks of the Mint. Remember, it’s a government building, so be sure to note all of the security requirements before you visit.

320 W. Colfax Ave., Denver.

For more information about the operating status of Denver Mint tours call 303-405-4761.

U.S. Mint of Denver

320 W. Colfax Ave. Denver , CO 303-405-4761

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United States Mint

United States Mint Public Tours and Gift Shops in Denver and Philadelphia Have Reopened

WASHINGTON – Public tours of the United States Mint (Mint) facilities at Denver and Philadelphia have reopened. The gift shops at both of these locations have also reopened. Please note that during High COVID-19 community levels, tours of the Mint facilities at Denver and Philadelphia will be suspended, and gift shops will be closed.

Tour participants must comply with all COVID-19 safety requirements (including but not limited to mask wearing) in effect at the Mint at the time of the tour.

Tours are subject to cancellation, possibly with little or no notice, when circumstances warrant building closure or other cancellation at the Mint’s sole discretion.

In Philadelphia, tours are self-guided and will be open during the summer (now until Labor Day) Monday through Saturday from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm, with the last entrance at 4:15 pm. The Philadelphia tour will be open on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of the Labor Day weekend. The tour will be open Monday through Friday from Labor Day until Memorial Day. All tours of the site are free of charge with no reservation required. Visitors must adhere to the latest state and local guidelines about the COVID-19 pandemic while on site. Please be aware that at times there is a line to enter the building. For more information on Philadelphia Mint tours, click here .

In Denver, the tours are guided, and availability is limited. For more information on Denver Mint tours, click here .

If you are unable visit in person, please download the U.S. Mint Virtual Tours mobile app from the Apple’s App Store® or Google Play™ . With this app, numismatists of all ages can go behind the scenes at the Philadelphia Mint to see how coins are made. Explore the production floors and follow the steps of circulating coin creation through videos, images, and 3-D models. Along the way, collect hidden coins.

About the United States Mint

Congress created the United States Mint in 1792, and the Mint became part of the Department of the Treasury in 1873. As the Nation’s sole manufacturer of legal tender coinage, the Mint is responsible for producing circulating coinage for the Nation to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint also produces numismatic products, including proof, uncirculated, and commemorative coins; Congressional Gold Medals; silver and bronze medals; and silver and gold bullion coins. Its numismatic programs are self-sustaining and operate at no cost to taxpayers.

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Fun Facts About The Denver Mint, The “D” Mintmark On Coins, And Rare Denver Coins Worth Money!

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The Denver Mint — which operates in the Mile High City of Colorado — has been striking United States coins since the early 1900s.

It has an interesting story that dates back to the silver and gold mining days of the Wild West .

The Denver Mint building in Colorado has a rich history.

Since its construction around the turn of the 20th century, the Denver Mint has produced hundreds of billions of coins !

You may have even seen or heard about the Denver Mint in movies, television shows, and songs.

The Denver Mint Story

The West was a hotbed of silver and gold discoveries during the mid-19th century, and the areas around Denver saw plenty of mining activity during those years .

But how did the Denver Mint come about?…

First, a private mint called Clark, Gruber & Co. opened a facility in Denver in 1860 that produced gold pieces designed for trade. This was followed by the opening of a government-sanctioned United States Assay Office in 1863. While the assay office was intended to coin gold, this never came to fruition. Meanwhile, U.S. Mint locations in San Francisco and the booming Nevada town of Carson City supplied coinage to the Denver area. Other private refining outfits came along until finally, in the waning years of the 19th century, Congress approved a full-fledged United States Mint branch facility for Denver.

Construction on the Denver Mint facility began in 1897, though progress was slow. Funding was tough, and it took awhile to secure the equipment needed to run a mint. Assay operations moved into the new mint building in 1904, with U.S. coins first being struck there on February 1, 1906 :

  • The very first coins struck by the Denver Mint were half dollars.
  • The Denver branch of the U.S. Mint struck 167 million silver and gold coins during its first year of operation.
  • Its first copper coin became the 1911-D Lincoln penny.
  • The 1912-D Liberty nickel represents the first five-cent coin to come from Denver.

How Can You Tell A Coin Was Struck At The Denver Mint?

Trying to figure out if your coin was struck at the Denver Mint?

It’s usually not too difficult to determine if it was or wasn’t, thanks to mintmarks — those little mint letter stamps that signify where a coin was made.

Most U.S. coins struck before 1980 that do not have a mintmark were struck at the Philadelphia Mint — aka the “mother mint.” Most coins struck elsewhere usually contain a mintmark .

In the case of coins from the Denver Mint, they have a “D” mintmark .

NOTE: Coins from the Denver Mint in Colorado and coins from the Dahlonega Mint in Georgia all have a “D” mintmark. Thankfully, it’s very easy to tell whether a “D” coin came from Dahlonega or Denver! The Dahlonega Mint was in operation from 1838 through 1861 and struck only gold coins. So, any U.S. coin with a “D” mintmark dated 1906 or later was made at the Denver Mint.

Did The Denver Mint Strike Any Rare & Valuable Coins?

A Denver Mint coin set with a medal depicting the historic Denver Mint in Colorado.

You betcha! Some of the most valuable coins ever struck during the 20th century originated at the Denver Mint.

These are some of these rare and valuable Denver Mint coins:

  • 1914-D Lincoln penny — $175+
  • 1916-D Mercury dime — $900+
  • 1922 Lincoln plain No D penny — $550+
  • 1932-D Washington quarter — $100+
  • 1939-D Jefferson nickel — $8+
  • 1943-D Lincoln bronze penny — $800,000
  • 1950-D Jefferson nickel — $10+
  • 1982-D Lincoln small date bronze penny — $10,000

Who knows? More valuable coins may come from the Denver Mint in the years to come!

Denver Mint Tours: A Look Inside

The Denver Mint is one of the biggest tourist attractions in its megapolitan Colorado city.

And what’s not to love about the place? The Denver Mint was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and buzzes with activity as its 350 employees help produce as many as 50 million coins a day !

Everything from pennies to quarters are made there, as well as commemorative coins, coin sets, and other collectible pieces.

The Denver Mint might have made its name striking a large share of the coins that pass through our hands every day. But there’s a good chance you may have seen this famous minting landmark in a Hollywood production or two:

  • The Denver Mint figures prominently in the plot of Cliffhanger , a 1993 film starring Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, Janine Turner, and Michael Rooker.
  • The Denver Mint stars alongside Burt Reynolds in the 1969 yarn Sam Whiskey .
  • And you can even find the Denver Mint in “Full House,” a 1959 episode of Maverick in which Bret Maverick (James Garner) encounters outlaws at our favorite Colorado coin factory…

What’s that? More of a music fan, you say? Well, there’s a Denver Mint cameo for you, too… Take a listen to the 1999 Jimmy Eat World track aptly titled “Lucky Denver Mint” and you will notice these lines:

“This time it’s on my own / Minutes from somewhere else / Somewhere I made a wish / with lucky Denver mint”

Want to visit the “lucky” Denver Mint in Colorado?

Well, you really are in luck!

The Denver Mint offers public tours where you can see how coins are made and enjoy the history of this famous landmark .

One of the key things to keep in mind when visiting the Denver Mint is the fact that it is a very popular tourist destination! This can make it a bit difficult to score tickets — which you’re going to want to have in hand as early as you can on the day of your Denver Mint tour.

The Denver Mint tour schedule itself is fairly limited — so it’s best to find out ahead of time if you’ll even be able to visit on the day you want to by checking the U.S. Mint website . If you can get in, great! Just be sure to arrive early for your tour because they warn that “late arrivals will not be admitted.”

Denver Mint tours last around 45 minutes . And while there are generally no free product samples (womp womp!), there is a pretty cool gift shop at the Denver Mint — so, be sure to bring some spending money for fun souvenirs!

For directions to the Denver Mint facility, simply plug the following address into your GPS:

United States Mint — Denver Mint 320 West Colfax Avenue, Denver Colorado 80204

READ NEXT:  Fun Facts About The United States Mint

does the denver mint do tours

I’m the Coin Editor here at TheFunTimesGuide. My love for coins began when I was 11 years old. I primarily collect and study U.S. coins produced during the 20th century. I’m a member of the American Numismatic Association (ANA) and the Numismatic Literary Guild (NLG) and have won multiple awards from the NLG for my work as a coin journalist. I’m also the editor at the Florida United Numismatists Club (FUN Topics magazine), and author of Images of America: The United States Mint in Philadelphia (a book that explores the colorful history of the Philadelphia Mint). I’ve contributed hundreds of articles for various coin publications including COINage, The Numismatist, Numismatic News, Coin Dealer Newsletter, Coin Values, and CoinWeek. I’ve authored nearly 1,000 articles here at The Fun Times Guide to Coins (many of them with over 50K shares), and I welcome your coin questions in the comments below!

Why Do People Put Coins On Graves? (And Other Unique Traditions Involving Coins)

History of the san francisco mint, the “s” mintmark on coins, and rare s-mint coins worth money.

Denver Vacation Tips

Denver Mint Tours

Suggestions for this fun, free activity.

The Denver Mint Tours offers you a within check out this coin manufacturing center. The scenic tours are free and also last around 45 mins long. Tickets are now only readily available at the gift shop the day of the scenic tour, so see to it to show up very early to get your place for the day.

This Mint was completed in 1904 and also started generating United States coins in 1906. Throughout its first year in operation, it generated more than 2 million coins. The value of these coins at the time was almost $18 million bucks.

One year later on, in 1907, it began creating international coins along with United States coins. The first coins it created were for Mexico. Throughout the years, they broadened their operations to produce coins for a variety of countries.

Today, the United States Mint in Denver focuses on simply United States coins. They generate brand-new coins to change those that have been removed from blood circulation. Coins are removed as they are shed in couches, chairs, and on the ground. They are also eliminated when individuals save them in containers in your home. The coins made right here will certainly replace those and allow the economy to remain to function appropriately. They likewise eliminate them as they become worn out as well as went back to financial institutions, which after that send them back to the Mint.

For several of the web links on this web page, I get a small commission when you purchase. You don’t pay even more when you get with me and it gives me the chance to use you all this wonderful web content for free!

What You Will See on the Denver Mint Trip

Your Denver Mint scenic tour begins with a go to inside 2 small spaces that consist of a variety of info concerning money throughout the years. You will certainly see early coins as well as other monetary devices used over the last few thousand years consisting of very early United States money.

These two rooms likewise consist of rare pieces of money that you won’t see anywhere else. It’s an excellent lesson of the advancement of monetary exchange in the United States including up until today.

I’m mosting likely to distribute a little trick below yet you will certainly additionally receive a tiny existing. It consists of both a minted and also non-minted cent. It’s a wonderful introductory to the manufacturing center.

You will certainly wait in these 2 little spaces on the first level up until your entire team has entered the building.

You will after that continue up the stairs to begin the official trip. It starts with a video clip regarding the choices to produce cash certain to the US. It takes you via the background of the initial Mint procedures as well as provides you even more details regarding today’s Mints.

The Denver Mint scenic tour continues with a view at their manufacturing center. Here you will see and learn more concerning how coins are made. During our see to this area, they were dealing with creating dimes.

You will certainly invest about 15 minutes in this section so do not feel as if you require to hurry to see everything. Take your time and check it out.

You will certainly then go into an additional space that reveals a few of the specialty coins that have been created for many years. In addition, this area has a number of big rooms that allow you to view more of the coin manufacturing. On this side of the manufacturing center, they were creating dimes.

You will additionally find out more concerning the only individual ever before captured taking gold bars at the US Mint in Denver’s early days. Similar to the previous space, you can take your time as you will certainly invest concerning 15 minutes right here.

The tour after that takes you to the older part of the Mint. This is where you will certainly reach see a few of this structure’s gorgeous Gothic Renaissance architecture. Make sure to pay special focus to the stunning environment-friendly and gold light fixtures as well as the murals near the exit.

The Denver Mint tour ends with a brief conversation of the whole financial system all over the world.

You will certainly see the two doors that you exit with as they are made of brass with interesting information. They are stunning to state the least!

The guides are additionally cozy as well as inviting. They are open to addressing your question or will certainly direct you in the ideal direction to find the response.

The whole trip is around 45 minutes long.

Tips for Obtaining Tickets

You must grab your free rides to the Denver Mint explore the early morning you wish to see. They use trips on Monday— Thursday.

They give out every one of the tickets for the day beginning at 7am. Due to the fact that this scenic tour is so preferred, they commonly have a line and distribute all tickets immediately when they open. There is a restriction to 5 tickets each and also they do not offer breakthrough tickets.

The gift shop is located on Cherokee Road. You will locate it about half method in between West Colfax Method and also West 14th Avenue.

Tips to Get Ready For Your Excursion

The guidelines for the Denver Mint excursion are really stringent. As I mentioned above, you can just get tickets the early morning of the scenic tour at the gift shop. They do not permit walk-ins, also if people do not appear for the scenic tour.

You are likewise needed to be there no later than thirty minutes prior to your excursion. If you arrive late, you will not be permitted to get in for your trip.

The adhering to products are NOT enabled:

  • Backpacks, purses, or bags of any kind of kind
  • Infant strollers
  • Food or beverages
  • Cigarette products, lighter in weights, or matches

They do not supply storage space, so you should leave these items at home or at your hotel.

They are really stringent concerning these regulations and you will certainly be checked thoroughly before you go into. Their screening system resembles the flight terminal screening system except you don’t need to take your shoes off. Nonetheless, their metal detectors are even more delicate than the ones at the flight terminals!

What can you bring? Primarily, anything little that will certainly fit into your pockets. For our scenic tour, we brought our license (called for to enter), some money, and also our tricks. We likewise brought our sunglasses and also my fiance had his hat and also cellular phone. We left every little thing else in the house. Every person else did regarding the same.

Digital photography & & Cell Phones

While they say you are permitted to bring an electronic camera or a cell phone, you are strictly forbidden from taking any type of photos during the trip. They will just permit you to enter their safety area when these devices are shut off. If they take place to capture you slipping in an image, you will certainly be accompanied from the structure.

Don’t Fail To Remember These Products

You are only allowed to bring along a couple of items and these are two that you need to not neglect for your scenic tour.

  • Ticket( s): These are the tickets you picked up the morning of the Denver Mint excursion. Do not forget these and they are your only method right into the building.
  • ID: You will likewise need a government released ID. This includes a chauffeur’s license, state provided ID, or passport. You will need this for everybody in your group.

Where to Wait for the Beginning of Your Trip

All tours start on the eastern side of the building. Their address is 320 West Colfax. Nonetheless, the Denver Mint tour entrance is on Cherokee Road straight throughout from the City and also Area Structure. There is a green sign that says «U.S. Mint Site Visitor Entry.» This is where you will certainly queue prior to you get in. It’s also simply north of the gift shop where you got your tickets that morning.

Generally, we really enjoyed our tour of the US Mint in Denver and also I make sure you will certainly do. As a pointer, ensure to attempt to reach the present shop as early as you can in the morning as the tickets go quickly. You can additionally check out the Mint’s present shop prior to or after your scenic tour. You do not also need a trip to visit it as it is open to the public throughout the week.

Extra Amusing Things to Do in Denver

Free Colorado State Capitol Tours

Other Free Tours in Denver

Denver Theater Calendar

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Where Did It All Go Wrong for J.Lo?

Weak tour sales, a baffling album-movie-documentary, and general online mockery—why does everyone seem to have a problem with Jennifer Lopez?

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does the denver mint do tours

In February, Jennifer Lopez released a bundle of multimedia projects that were each part of a larger statement—arguably, a misguided one—about the power of love or something. One of those was This Is Me … Now , a very cheesy and otherwise unremarkable late-career pop album. The other was This Is Me … Now: A Love Story , a loosely biographical, somewhat egomaniacal adaptation of the album into a blockbuster musical full of astrological melodrama, flashy choreography, and celebrity cameos. Finally, a couple of weeks later, Lopez released The Greatest Love Story Never Told , a behind-the-scenes documentary that’s chiefly about the making of This Is Me … Now: A Love Story but is more notable for its awkwardly invasive glimpses into J.Lo’s famed romance with a dutifully supportive but quite visibly mortified Ben Affleck.

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This is all, taken together, as overproduced and exasperating as it sounds. Each project has been met with mixed-to-bad reviews and general mockery on social media. J.Lo herself admitted to Variety that she made and self-financed the musical, to the tune of $20 million, even though everyone in her creative orbit, including coproducer Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas and castmate Jane Fonda, warned her about the risk of further overexposure of her relationship with Affleck. But J.Lo persisted, and the result is a roundly uncanny production that’s distressingly reminiscent of Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All by Myself but also James Cameron’s Avatar and also Paul Hunter’s music video for “Wild Wild West.” Fat Joe plays J.Lo’s therapist, and Jane Fonda plays Sagittarius, in the most cringeworthy release involving either Lopez or Affleck since—too fittingly, really— Gigli. Ticket sales for the tour to promote This Is Me … Now have been exceptionally weak; J.Lo has hastily rebranded the concert series as a greatest hits tour.

The overexposure of pop stars, to a fault, is routine. We know perhaps a bit too much about J.Lo’s pop contemporaries, too, and look: It’s not like Mariah Carey and Justin Timberlake haven’t also pushed their own post-peak vanity projects to weak receptions in recent years. But J.Lo has, for much of her career, been a curiously unsympathetic figure, a stone-cold climber whose missteps draw a great deal of schadenfreude and now something of a backlash.

Lopez has long been a more divisive figure than meets the eye. This was the crux of the drama a couple of months ago on Saturday Night Live , concerning host Ayo Edebiri, costar of The Bear , and musical guest Lopez, as the latter was promoting her aforementioned projects a couple of weeks before their release dates. A day before the taping in New York, TMZ resurfaced some old footage of Edebiri, as a guest on Laci Mosley’s podcast, Scam Goddess , saying Lopez “can’t sing” and describing her musical career as “one long scam.” These were jokes , in one sense—a comedic actor skewering a pop star in a harmlessly petty conversation on a podcast brought to you by Team Coco—but then, yes, actually, this has always been the shadow discourse about J.Lo. She can’t sing, and not in the normal way that a lot of pop stars slathered in Auto-Tune can’t sing; J.Lo goes so far as to hide behind uncredited vocals from other singers, from Ashanti (“I’m Real,” “Ain’t It Funny”) to Meghan Trainor (“Ain’t Your Mama”) . These criticisms are common enough that Lopez, commenting on the footage of Edebiri, told Variety that she’s indeed “heard similar things said about me throughout my career.” While Lopez would publicly insist that Edebiri’s comments were water under the bridge, Edebiri led off her SNL appearance with a sketch referencing her criticism of Lopez , in a half-kidding ritual self-humiliation. This was Lorne Michaels making the most of an awkward situation, sure, but also it felt like Lopez putting Edebiri in her place, even if she wasn’t directly responsible for the sketch’s development. Lopez also made a point of telling Variety that Edebiri apologized to her “with tears in her eyes.”

Such is the role Lopez never sought but has played on and off for decades now: J.Lo as pop villain—or, if not quite villain, a sort of hapless foil. Her famous feud with Mariah Carey in the early 2000s gave us the iconic quote from Carey after she was asked about J.Lo: “I don’t know her.” This was a rivalry born out of Carey’s divorce from her label boss, Tommy Mottola at Sony, who reportedly led the label to aggressively promote Lopez and scornfully sabotage the career of his ex-wife. Mottola and the tabloids pitted these two women against each other, and while the rivalry never escalated into any direct confrontation or explicit denunciation, J.Lo has always come across as the loser—a woman out of her depth.

J.Lo got her start as a Fly Girl on In Living Color and as the breakout star of Gregory Nava’s charming biopic Selena. This was the 1990s. These were, in retrospect, the only years when Lopez was so uncontroversially beloved, before her disastrous involvement with Puff Daddy, before her cold war with Mariah, and before her multimedia reach, far exceeding her grasp, could culminate in something as unwieldy and off-putting as This Is Me … Now: A Love Story. Much of the cynicism about J.Lo over the years, up to its latest climax, concerns her particular proportion of fame and talent. There’s the sense that even the heights of her own career don’t quite compare to those of her contemporaries or earn her the same sort of everlasting goodwill. Mariah Carey was arguably the most formidable female pop singer of her generation, with a fearsome command of five octaves, while Jennifer Lopez was a great dancer with a relatively weak singing voice, evident to anyone who has ever intently listened to the chorus of “Waiting for Tonight.” This contrast was always a bit damning, even if the underlying rivalry was false and, in any case, wasn’t J.Lo’s fault or problem. But J.Lo is a talented entertainer, undeniably, even as she struggles to narrow her ambitions in response to that pesky, inevitable question: talented at what, exactly?

This Is Me … Now: A Love Story possibly would’ve worked better as a back-to-basics dance showcase for Lopez, a savvy capitalization on the goodwill from her impressive performance alongside Shakira at Super Bowl LIV. But, of course, it had to be an overwrought showcase for J.Lo as an actor, singer, writer, producer, and lover, too. “Bennifer” is a tabloid romance for the ages, sure, but also the most consistently overexposed aspect of J.Lo’s legacy and one that’s dramatically at odds with her posturing as “Jenny from the block,” when she is, at this point, so clearly and thoroughly a creature of Hollywood, subject of so much resentment, exactly as Fonda warned her.

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IMAGES

  1. The Denver Mint

    does the denver mint do tours

  2. The Best Denver Mint Tours & Tickets 2020

    does the denver mint do tours

  3. Denver Mint

    does the denver mint do tours

  4. Denver Mint

    does the denver mint do tours

  5. Take a free tour at the United States Mint in Denver, Colorado

    does the denver mint do tours

  6. Our Tour of the Denver Mint from GoFatherhood®

    does the denver mint do tours

COMMENTS

  1. Visiting the Denver Mint

    Denver, Colorado 80204-2693. Tour information: 303-405-4761. The Mint does not provide parking, but there are meters and pay lots within a few blocks. Please allow yourself additional time for parking. No curbside drop-offs or pickups are allowed around the Mint facility.

  2. Denver Mint Review: A Billion Reasons to Visit This ...

    The Denver Mint is quite simply a unique experience. it's not every day that you get to watch thousands of coins get freshly minted on the way to the American economy. While getting your ticket and admission into the Mint is not as easy as a standard tour, it's worth the extra hassle to experience something so special. Daniel Gillaspia.

  3. Denver Mint, Denver

    Visitors can tour the massive Renaissance-style 1904 mint building to glimpse the coin-making process, explore exhibits on the history of money, or purchase authentic currency and commemorative coins in the gift shop. Learn more. 320 W Colfax Ave., Denver, Colorado, 80204.

  4. Essentials About the United States Mint in Denver

    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.

  5. Denver Mint

    Denver Mint, 320 W Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80204. Local: (303) 405-4761. [email protected]. Visit Website. Overview. Learn the rich history of the United States Mint and how we produce billions of coins each year for the American public with a free, guided tour of the Denver facility. Tours are recommended for children 7 years and ...

  6. Only in Denver: U.S. Mint Tour in Denver

    Ironically, Denver's biggest "money making" attraction won't cost you a penny to visit. Free, 45-minute guided tours of the Denver Mint are available Monday through Thursday (excluding Federal holidays). All visitors must be 7 years and older. See the mint's latest policies. Lead image courtesy of Flickr Commons . Denver has one of two ...

  7. Denver Mint

    Address: 320 West Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80204. Phone: 303-572-9500. Season: Year-round. Fee: Free. Website: usmint.gov…. 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.

  8. United States Mint At Denver

    Visiting the US Mint in Denver is a must-do. Love history and coins have quite a story to tell. The tickets are limited to 150 per day so get there around 0615 or so and get in line. Once you pick your tour time you'll get a pass to bring when your tour time starts.

  9. Where the government makes cents: Welcome to the Denver Mint

    The U.S. Mint in downtown Denver is one of six U.S. Mints around the country. The building struck its first coin in 1906. Christian Murdock. Gold bars, each weighing 275 pounds, are on display at the U.S. Mint in Denver Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022. About 1,400 pounds of gold are stored at the mint.

  10. United States Mint At Denver

    No you can't go on your own. You must get tickets the day you are going to tour the mint and they will be for a set time. The group will be around 20-25 people. You would miss much of the information if allowed to walk through alone. It is a very secure location due to the making of coins and the gold stored there.

  11. Denver Mint tours are worth their weight in gold

    Location of the Denver Mint Tours. The Denver Mint is located in downtown Denver at 320 W. Colfax Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80204, across Cherokee Avenue from the Denver City and County Building. All visitors must be at the tour entrance located on Cherokee Street 30 minutes prior to the start time. Late arrivals will not be admitted.

  12. Money-Maker: Free Tours of the U.S. Mint of Denver. Here's What You

    The Mint does not provide parking, but there are meters and pay lots within a few blocks of the Mint. Remember, it's a government building, so be sure to note all of the security requirements before you visit. 320 W. Colfax Ave., Denver. For more information about the operating status of Denver Mint tours call 303-405-4761.

  13. United States Mint Public Tours and Gift Shops in Denver and

    July 25, 2022. WASHINGTON - Public tours of the United States Mint (Mint) facilities at Denver and Philadelphia have reopened. The gift shops at both of these locations have also reopened. Please note that during High COVID-19 community levels, tours of the Mint facilities at Denver and Philadelphia will be suspended, and gift shops will be ...

  14. Where the government makes cents: Welcome to the Denver Mint

    Free tours at Denver Mint run at various times from 8 a.m.to 2 p.m. Monday-Thursday, but officials warn demand is high and space is "extremely limited." Instructions on requesting tours and more ...

  15. Reserve Denver Mint tours online

    The Denver Mint will continue to accommodate walk-up tour reservations at the Tours Reservations Booth on Cherokee Street, between 14th and Colfax avenues. Large organized groups with more than 15 people can still schedule reservations, but should make arrangements through the U.S. Mint at Denver's Public Affairs Office by calling (303) 405-4759.

  16. Denver Mint Facts, Tours, And Coins Made There

    The very first coins struck by the Denver Mint were half dollars. The Denver branch of the U.S. Mint struck 167 million silver and gold coins during its first year of operation. Its first copper coin became the 1911-D Lincoln penny. The 1912-D Liberty nickel represents the first five-cent coin to come from Denver.

  17. how do I make a reservation to tour the Denver...

    the tour is FREE. You cannot make a reservation. Tickets are free, but are only made available at 7 AM for that days tours at the Denver Mint ticket office in front of the mint. dbinhou75... It does not cost anything, but you need to be there at the beginning of the day to get a ticket.

  18. Denver Mint Tours

    The Denver Mint Tours offers you a within check out this coin manufacturing center. The scenic tours are free and also last around 45 mins long. Tickets are now only readily available at the gift shop the day of the scenic tour, so see to it to show up very early to get your place for the day. This Mint was completed in 1904 and also started ...

  19. Denver Mint

    The Denver Mint is a branch of the United States Mint that struck its first coins on February 1, 1906. The mint is still operating and producing coins for circulation, as well as mint sets and commemorative coins.Coins produced at the Denver Mint bear a D mint mark (as did the Dahlonega Mint, which closed before the Denver branch opened).The Denver Mint is the single largest producer of coins ...

  20. The U.S. Mint at Denver Virtual Tour

    Take a virtual tour of circulating coin production at the Denver Mint in this fun video. You can also visit the Mint in person or download the "U.S. Mint Vir...

  21. Where Did It All Go Wrong for J.Lo?

    She can't sing, and not in the normal way that a lot of pop stars slathered in Auto-Tune can't sing; J.Lo goes so far as to hide behind uncredited vocals from other singers, from Ashanti ("I ...