Mint your own at Casa de la Moneda!

If you’ve survived a visit to the Potosi mine, there is a good chance that all the minerals (and wealth) you’ve seen in the mine has piqued you interest for precious metals. If you are interested to know what happened to all that silver once it was extracted from the mountain, then head to the Casa de la Moneda, arguably Bolivia’s finest museum.

In Casa de la Moneda you’ll have the chance to visit the oldest mint in the Americas. Built by the Spaniards soon after the first silver was extracted, Casa de la Moneda gives you the chance to see the machinery used to mint the silver coins that made Spain rich. Bloody rich.

Casa de la Moneda has a lot to offer besides 16^th Century coins. The museum boasts a rather nice set of paintings, including the unique Virgin of the Mountain (La Virgen del Cerro). I suggest you listen carefully to the explanations of your guide about this painting. The painting is choke-full of historical information about the city of Potosi.

Some of the rooms include the large machinery used to mint the coins. These were operated by mules whose life expectancy didn’t exceed three months. Mules died in droves as a result of the high altitude and terrible work conditions. So many mules died every month that Potosi was forced to import thousands of mules for as far as Northern Argentina. Seeing the heavily indented circular path in the cobble stones around the machinery is a sober reminder of the fate of the poor animals.

Ok so now you’ve seen all these nice coins and you are thinking “I want one!”. At Casa de la Moneda everything is possible. Just go to the souvenir shop and tell the lady that you want to mint your own coin. Then you’ll have to choose if you want your coin to be made of bronze, lead, or silver. I would recommend silver, of course, but the price of silver has gone through the roof in the last years which means that you’ll have to fork out about 40$ for a silver coin. I decided to settle for bronze mostly because I already have a few silver souvenirs. The rest is just straightforward. Put your piece in the machine, take that huge hammer and WHAM! You just minted a new coin just like it was done in the 16^th and 17^th centuries!

If you visit Potosi give Casa de la Moneda a couple of hours of your time. It will be the perfect wrap-up to your Potosi mine tour.