Photo by Susan Headley
The Sacagawea Dollar space coins display features a spacey design layout for the 12 solid 22 kt gold coins.
Despite several attempts, I was unable to get a good, clear close-up photo of the solid 22 karat gold Sacagawea Dollar coins. I did, however, have a real nice conversation with one of the eight U.S. Mint Police guards who came along to protect the coins. He said that four of the guards came from the Denver Mint, and four came from Philadelphia. They stand in position for 30 minute shifts before being rotated. He said his usual job is screening employees who work at the Mint.
I had heard that the U.S. Mint had metal detectors that were so sensitive that they could tell if you had an extra penny's worth of metal on you when you left. The way this theory supposedly worked, they screened you upon entry to the Mint to determine what your metallic rating was (since different people have differing amounts of metal in their bones, teeth, or even the clothing or shies they wear on a particular day.) Then, when you left, they screened you again, and if you had more metal when you left than you arrived with, you had some explaining to do. (I was never able to find out what happened to people who left with less metal than they arrived with.)
My new friend, the Mint Police fellow, told me that he's never heard of this kind of system! He said they do have very sensitive metal detectors, quite a bit more sensitive than the airports use, but that he's never heard of this kind of entrance and egress measurement activity. I guess he's never worked in the coin counting room at a Las Vegas casino, which is where I first heard of these systems. The Mint Police fellow also told me that if someone has metal in their bodies, such as titanium joints or steel plates in their skull, they would need a doctor's certificate to enter the Mint production floor, even on a V.I.P. basis, although the public tours don't have such requirements.
I had heard that the U.S. Mint had metal detectors that were so sensitive that they could tell if you had an extra penny's worth of metal on you when you left. The way this theory supposedly worked, they screened you upon entry to the Mint to determine what your metallic rating was (since different people have differing amounts of metal in their bones, teeth, or even the clothing or shies they wear on a particular day.) Then, when you left, they screened you again, and if you had more metal when you left than you arrived with, you had some explaining to do. (I was never able to find out what happened to people who left with less metal than they arrived with.)
My new friend, the Mint Police fellow, told me that he's never heard of this kind of system! He said they do have very sensitive metal detectors, quite a bit more sensitive than the airports use, but that he's never heard of this kind of entrance and egress measurement activity. I guess he's never worked in the coin counting room at a Las Vegas casino, which is where I first heard of these systems. The Mint Police fellow also told me that if someone has metal in their bodies, such as titanium joints or steel plates in their skull, they would need a doctor's certificate to enter the Mint production floor, even on a V.I.P. basis, although the public tours don't have such requirements.