The World’s Most Popular Mints: Key Facts and Comparisons

Some quick facts on each of the world’s most popular mints:

The United States Mint was founded in 1792, and now has minting operations in Philadelphia, Denver, West Point, and San Francisco. The mint produced more than 17 billion coins for circulation in 2015 for the fastest annual pace since 19.4 billion coins were struck in 2001. Legend holds that George Washington donated some of his personal silver to the Mint for manufacturing early coinage.

The Royal Canadian Mint was founded in 1908 in Ottawa, Canada. It produces over one billion coins per year, with the Silver Maple Leaf as its signature bullion offering. In 2007, the Royal Canadian Mint created the largest coin in the world – a 100 kg, 99.999% pure, $1 million gold bullion coin.

The Perth Mint was founded in 1899 in Perth, Australia. It was originally built to refine metal from the gold rushes occurring in Western Australia, while also distributing sovereigns and half-sovereigns for the British Empire. In 1970, the Mint’s jurisdiction was moved to the State Government of Western Australia. The Australian Kookaburra (1990-), Koala (2007-), and Kangaroo (1990-1993, 2016-) are some of the mint’s most popular products among bullion buyers.

PAMP Suisse, a private mint, was founded in Switzerland in 1977. The mint refines an impressive 450 tonnes of gold annually, and much of the gold used for worldwide jewelry production comes from PAMP. The Mint also produces the popular Fortuna bar, which is available in gold, silver, and platinum, with sizes ranging from 1 gram to 100 oz.

Sunshine Minting is another private mint. Founded in Idaho in 1979, Sunshine mints 70 million ounces of bullion each year, including its version of the popular Silver Buffalo Round. Sunshine Minting is also the primary supplier of one-ounce silver planchets (round metal disks, ready to be struck as coins) to the United States Mint.