Hi everyone
Only took 2 pics today at the RAM Open Day
It was hot (about 33 degrees when we were there) and I did a lot of grizzling about standing in the heat - in fact I wasn't going to bother getting the gold coin but the hubby wanted to get some seeing we were there
All the stalls were out in the full sun and the wait line for the 2016 gold plated 50c was very very long
The poor girls from the mint were in a very hot tent - totally flushed faced and trying to please the crowd
I did complain to Ross
Earlier they had a cash only line (reasonably long and in full sun) but we thought it was for the tickets for the tour so we walked straight past it but apparently it was for the gold plated 50c - no sign saying that mind you
last night I bought two bags of the fifty cent bags on line and paid $10 for posting as the mint web site said that no pick ups were allowed
get there today and there was a stall dedicated to selling the same jolly bags for $10 - so I am feeling a tad ripped off this afternoon
The mint tour was fantastic and well worth the $5 each
All they needed to do was move that little tent inside the main building and people could have lined up in the shade and air-conditioning . Honestly the events coordinators really get things wrong sometimes.
they did have mobile toilets but they were right near the sale lines & the Navy guys display ... hummm
there were plenty of dealers but I only just popped in to say g'day to Andrew (Sterling and Currency) and it was far too hot and sunny to even bother to visits the other dealers - Edlins, IS Wirght Sydney, Wynard Coins, prospectus coins and stamps
They had food stalls and drink and water which was great
the sale line inside went way way back too
I reckon a few thousand people were there today - easy
Ross did come along and get most to move and have a big part of the line in the shade from the main building. By the time we got to the sales it was down to 3 coins per person. At least we still got some of the coins. Next year I will go early in the day before the heat hits.
One part of the line in the blazing sun to the little MINT tent
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10035/P2130988_-_Copy.JPG)
The line went way back towards the big oak trees that of course, not a single display tent was sheltered under!!
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10035/P2130989_-_Copy.JPG)
this is a RAM photo as we couldn't take photos in the self guided tour
which was fabulous
all the staff were out and it gave them there time to shine for the public
the tour started here in the pic - that big machine (to the left of the pic) is called ROBBIE and it lifts the minted and bagged coins into the big cardboard looking crates
they had loads of large drums with the new designed coins in them - i.e. the new 5, 10, 20, fifty. $1 and $2 for circulation
we went through the proof room as well and I chatted to the lady there who was minting coins as she noticed that I was counting the amount of strikes the press made on the coins
we also chatted to the guy who makes the dies
so it was rather brilliant and very cool with the evaporated cooling in full swing
I grew up out west but as I get older I just don't cope with the hot weather
time for me to move to Sweden I think!!
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10035/Coin_bagging_machine2C_Royal_Australian_Mint.JPG)
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Great post Robbie I would have gone Nuts there , I hate queuing up.
Quotewe went through the proof room as well and I chatted to the lady there who was minting coins as she noticed that I was counting the amount of strikes the press made on the coins
So spill the beans Mate :)
I notice that eBay is alive with the coins available today, The sellers must have been in front of you and that's why you could only get 3 coins :angel:
Top stuff RG, a great write up. :good:
fanks for that
I was worried that I sounded too grizzley (miss sooky la la)
yes - we only got 6 coins (the gold plate ones) but other people earlier were certainly buying lots of ten or more at a time
I am guessing that the dealers get them in bulk as some dealers had them on ebay in bulk lots before today as well
loads of people were just ordinary folks like us
but I did spot a few of the more 'seller types' and even caught up with a couple of guys from the coin club who sell on ebay so they had a few extras to sell
will pm you Trout
So not willing to share with everyone the number of strikes?
Thanks for sharing. :good:
:thank_you:
Quote from: 'serial' pid='84503' dateline='1455354301'So not willing to share with everyone the number of strikes?
4 for proof, 2 for gem finish and 1 for unc :ok:
On the RAM site "Shape your Collection" they said yesterday that you could get 50 coins per person!!!
I don't know how long that lasted for.
They kept it quiet about being able to swap the new 50c for face value at $10 a bag tho.
I seen it on their website this morning.
Thanks for the pictures RG.
I would not have coped so good with the heat not being able to seek the shade if forced to stand in the queues. Bummed about the 50c bags that is bad bad bad of the RAM to do that. Thanks for the pics.
Quote from: 'serial' pid='84503' dateline='1455354301'So not willing to share with everyone the number of strikes?
Not really, i wasn't around as we went to the movies to see zoolander 2
Quote from: 'jens coins' pid='84507' dateline='1455356255'On the RAM site "Shape your Collection" they said yesterday that you could get 50 coins per person!!!
I don't know how long that lasted for.
Started at 50 but about an hour in the RAM staff came around saying 10 per transaction although, at that stage, you could get up to 50 if you were happy enough to queue 5 times!
Pedro
wow!!
we were down to 3 per customer at about 3.30 pm
after waiting in line for about 3/4 hour
guess that the ebayers were hard at it!!
Quote from: 'robbiegal' pid='84513' dateline='1455370070'Quote from: 'serial' pid='84503' dateline='1455354301'So not willing to share with everyone the number of strikes?
Not really, i wasn't around as we went to the movies to see zoolander 2
when I was on the tour the proof press was doing 4 strikes per coin
I thought the fellow in the tooling room who was showing off a die said 6 strikes for a proof but that could be my faulty memory.
Also business strike dies used 250,000 times, 25,000 for proofs.
Pedro
might depend on the proof as well
because there are those beautiful silver proofs that may be struck differently
I was counting the strikes in the proof room and they were making the 2016 proof sets the coins on the one I was looking at were the $2 coins but I did count on the other machines and they were doing 4 for each coin as well
where are your open day photos pedro? come on share!!
My inability to recall events may be a result of heat stress! :laugh2:
Didn't take many photos RG and will have to get them off my phone later.
Pedro
The lineups varied during the day from cash and eftpos
Cash lineup was short and quicker to duck up the road to the redibank for cash
Quote from: 'purplepennyhunter' pid='84508' dateline='1455357318'I would not have coped so good with the heat not being able to seek the shade if forced to stand in the queues. Bummed about the 50c bags that is bad bad bad of the RAM to do that. Thanks for the pics.
Kathryn the 50c bags are available from the RAM eShop
PEDRO'S BIG ADVENTURE
This was my first visit to a RAM event so in the end I thought I would trundle over early and just see what the crowd was like. Arrived about 8.40am and seeing the length of the queue for the Open Day 50c made, as it turned out the "warm" decision, to join the line.
The queue extended the complete length of the car park and then looped around the end - would guess at perhaps 70 - 80 metres long.
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10078/WP_20160213_08_52_39_Pro5B15D_resized_marked.jpg)
This shot was taken after about 1/2 an hour or so in the line. You can just see the closed end of the row of tents (circled) and we had to go up past them then double back to a blue tent at the end of the car park.
At some point in the day the line actually ran in from the opposite direction to that tent (would have been where you would have been RG).
As RG mentioned there were significant numbers of RAM staff (including the CEO) around to give directions and answer questions.
The drawback was that they had significantly underestimated the early demand and only had two staff on selling the carded 50c. It took about an hour and a half for the RAM to set up another line for cash only purchases of the card.
Two hours after starting we finally reached our goal!! The line had shrunk somewhat but was still quite long even at that point.
The good news was that by then the queue for the bagged 50c was only about 5 long so picking them up was a breeze. While the line was so small you were only permitted to one purchase one bag at a time (the gent behind me pointed that out to the ladies serving but they followed their procedure and advised that he should just line up again). Easy in the end really to just whip around a couple of times.
It appeared that many people bought their coins and left the precinct. Not sure that the RAM had their allocations right ie allowing early buyers the opportunity to buy 50 coins and then dropping the number as time went by while demand was clearly very strong. I don't know how the dealers obtained their allocations but it just appeared that the Ebay set got in and got out - I may be doing those people an injustice but it would have been better to start with an allocation of 10 and make them circle around. That may have dampened their ardour (or maybe not) :laugh2: and made it fairer for people arriving later in the day.
Now because I made the unplanned decision to join the queue first up I left my hat in the car (and that wasn't close, silly boy :heat:). The RAM did provide some drinks and sunscreen as we "enjoyed" our vitamin D fix in the line.
Fortunately a kind lady and gentleman had come better prepared and lent another chap and myself an umbrella so I ended up with a "watermelon" rather than a "beetroot" shade on the top of my head.
The heroes of the day would have to have been the poor souls who were dressed up as the dollar coin, kangaroo and the koala. They would have been very hot in those costumes to say the least. From the line I could see the koala with the top half off and mopping himself down - and that was after about an hour.
Will post a bit more later on.
Pedro
Quote from: 'runway' pid='84558' dateline='1455452593'Kathryn the 50c bags are available from the RAM eShop
Yes I bought some last week. Postage adds 100% to the cost though.
Thanks Pedro, a great read!
PEDRO'S ADVENTURE (Part 2)
After a bit of R&R with the wife's niece and family it was back into the fray.
We wandered back later in the afternoon so that the niece's daughter could have a look see.
After a brief look around we thought it may be a little cooler inside the RAM building. However, with so many people coming and going the air conditioning in the shop area was struggling.
Next stop - the factory floor tour.
Inside the toolroom area:
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10078/WP_20160213_14_16_32_Pro_resized.jpg)
The 5c press clattering away:
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10078/WP_20160213_14_27_41_Pro_resized.jpg)
Some "free" samples, pity they were enclosed in the drums. There were a number of drums scattered around that contained the new design coins. Couple of examples.
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10078/WP_20160213_14_23_56_Pro_resized.jpg)
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10078/WP_20160213_14_24_47_Pro_resized.jpg)
Titan having a rest:
(http://www.australian-coins.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10078/WP_20160213_14_31_01_Pro_resized.jpg)
Got to dip my hat to the ladies working in the proof room punching out those coins and carefully checking the output - I couldn't do that day in, day out. Mind you the coins did look very pretty even if proofs are not my thing.
Overall, Pedro had an enjoyable (if a little hot - did I mention that!) day. Very friendly people in the queue for coins at least made the lining up more bearable.
Pedro
Great pics and a very entertaining read Pedro! Glad you had a good time.
.... edit ..... removed comment that wasn't that bright (I didn't think that the new design for 2016 might actually be the obverse ..... der Uni)
Norti boy photos were not allowed on the tour. Great shots though. 8.40 am for what a 10 am opening! Wow
P's I was out in my veggie patch yesterday only 31 degrees but the UV was purple at 12 on weather zone. I was still really feeling the sun at that time of day and started thinking about those poor blighters in the dollar coin out fit etc and wondered if they may have been treated for heat exhaustion later that night. And yep I had left my umbrella in the car that was a kilometer down the road!
Hey runway where is your on the spot report? The more the merrier!
Quote from: 'robbiegal' pid='84574' dateline='1455503420'Norti boy photos were not allowed on the tour. Great shots though. 8.40 am for what a 10 am opening! Wow
Oops - were there signs re photos? All that sun obviously affected my eyesight as well! :blush:
Was supposed to be an 8.30am start rather than the usual 10am Saturday start. I was originally working on 10am as well but only saw the 8.30am start time in the RAM Open day notice on the RAM site on Friday.
Pedro
Great photos and reading folks. Well done.
Quote from: 'robbiegal' pid='84574' dateline='1455503420'Norti boy photos were not allowed on the tour. Great shots though. 8.40 am for what a 10 am opening! Wow
P's I was out in my veggie patch yesterday only 31 degrees but the UV was purple at 12 on weather zone. I was still really feeling the sun at that time of day and started thinking about those poor blighters in the dollar coin out fit etc and wondered if they may have been treated for heat exhaustion later that night. And yep I had left my umbrella in the car that was a kilometer down the road!
Hey runway where is your on the spot report? The more the merrier!
Sorry I have a few photos but haven't downloaded them yet but will do
:yahoo:
Great the more the merrier and we all see the same things but see them differently