RAM OPEN DAY 2016

robbiegal · February 13, 2016, 05:59:11 PM

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

The line went way back towards the big oak trees that of course, not a single display tent was sheltered under!!

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!!

gnome · February 13, 2016, 06:44:59 PM

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trout · February 13, 2016, 06:52:49 PM

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:

Unicorn · February 13, 2016, 06:54:58 PM

Top stuff RG, a great write up. :good:

robbiegal · February 13, 2016, 07:27:56 PM

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

serial · February 13, 2016, 07:35:01 PM

So not willing to share with everyone the number of strikes?

kchan1111 · February 13, 2016, 07:51:23 PM

Thanks for sharing. :good:

:thank_you:

trout · February 13, 2016, 08:04:26 PM

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:

jens coins · February 13, 2016, 08:07:35 PM

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.

purplepennyhunter · February 13, 2016, 08:25:18 PM

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.

robbiegal · February 13, 2016, 11:57:50 PM

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

Pedro · February 14, 2016, 02:17:21 PM

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

robbiegal · February 14, 2016, 03:24:41 PM

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

Pedro · February 14, 2016, 04:50:38 PM

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

robbiegal · February 14, 2016, 05:45:52 PM

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!!