Terranova Expedition: Potosi Mint

We've been joined in Potosi by Zane, who you may remember is a mate of Troy's and has traveled with us off and on in Guatamaula and Colombia.

We have kept in contact on and off as we've made our way South, and our paths crossed again in Potosi.

After having a nice supper, we decided to visit the Casa de la Moneda de Bolivia, the Bolivian National Mint. It is the largest and most imposing building in Potosi (it takes up an entire city block).

Now a museum, the former mint contains a lot of the historical equipment used in the production of coins, from the original wood mills used to turn the ingots into silver strips that were then hammer stamped into coins.

During its heyday, it produced most of the coinage for the Spanish main.

The tour took us about 2 hours, Zane and I had an english guide, who we think only knew enough english to recite the tour. She couldn't really answer any questions, and was a little unpleasant. Vanessa had a spanish tour guide who knew everything, and was happy to answer questions. We learned more about the mint from Vanessa later that night over supper.

Some of the many paintings preserved here. The subject matter is always religious.

Examples of some of the Spanish hand stamped coins produced here.

A few of the stamps.

The machinery for turning ingots into silver ribbons that were then cut and stamped. There were 12 separate mandrels that the silver was put through to form it to the final thickness (1mm)

The machinery from below. It was powered by 4 donkeys walking in a circle.

Here is one of the donkeys. He was named "Zane"

A church strongbox. The Virgin on the front has her hands outstretched to collect coins. The intricate mechanism in the top is the lock for the box. It had 12 bolts all controlled by one key.