Paris mint displays treasures for first time

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The Paris mint (Monnaie de Paris) has recently opened for a public exhibit for the first time after thousand years, showing treasures from Croesus to the euro, collectors’ coins and a view of the craftsmen in their workshops.

"The Paris mint collection contains about 170,000 objects and we're going to present approximately 1,830 extraordinary objects, including the standard meter measure, which is exposed for the first time." said Beatrice Coullare, Curator of the exhibition.

A craftsman holds a model coin / Monnaie de Paris Photo

The industrial production of coins in circulation has been farmed out to a factory in southwest France. But the minting of collectible coins and specialist medallions is still done by a team of 150 people in the French capital.

CEO of the Mint, Aurelien Rousseau noted, "Here we mint coins which still have a value. Of course you can pay for things with them because we don't just make coins which are like casino chips. We make coins that have monetary value recognized by the French Republic. But it is indeed more often collectors who are interested in these products."

The silver coin 10 euro /Monnaie de Paris Photo

The exhibition covers ancient treasure chests, a coin dating back to around the time of Jesus 2,000 years ago, and the platinum meter measure that remains the international reference of the metric system.

The mint billed as the oldest factory in Paris still operates, and coins have been made at the site since the year 864.