Potosí National Mint

NATIONAL MINT – POTOSÍ (CULTURAL MUSEUM)

Without a doubt, the Potosí National Mint is the most important building in the history of South America’s colonial architecture – its architect/builder was a man by the name of Don Salvador de Villa who had planned and constructed the national mints in Mexico and in Lima, Perú.

. Interestingly enough, the construction of the museum in Potosí surprisingly came into fruition due to the amount of silver that was found and extracted from Cerro Rico – as well as the growth of population in Potosí, the commercial expansion, and the unawaited boom that came to the city – amongst other factors; these factors created the necessity to organize a center of co-financing in which (after the construction of the center) the coining of currency rapidly began and had continued from 1572 for about 200 years.
With its notable lamination machinery and wooden gear sets brought from Spain, the enormous cedar beams that support floors and roofs, and the elliptical dome where the main silver-melting furnace is, we can observe the archive where more than 80,000 unedited documents are guarded – relative to Potosían life; this is what characterizes the Potosí National Mint.

VISITING HOURS:

TUESDAYS – SATURDAYS:

Morning Shift: 09:00am – 12:30pm
Afternoon Shift: 14:30 – 18:30pm

SUNDAYS:

Morning Shift: 09:00am – 12:30pm

MONDAYS:

CLOSED

Gallery