Mint love story caps off year of celebration
The Perth Mint is renowned for premium quality coins and minted products, a grand heritage building and as one of WA’s leading tourism venues.
Now we can add place where romance is born to the list.
The Mint’s shop has a special place in the heart of the final winner of the Your Story is Our Story competition held as part of last year’s 125th anniversary celebrations.
Diego Marcelli has been a regular visitor to the Mint since he moved to Perth from Italy in 2016. His interest in coins started early in life courtesy of his grandfather who gave Diego and his brother gifts of UK gold sovereigns each birthday.
That interest became something more on 7 December 2018 when Diego met Maria as they both browsed in The Perth Mint Shop coin room.
“That day was 15 years since my grandfather died, so I went for a quick visit to the Mint. I wasn't set to buy anything specific,” he said.
“I talk to everyone, and I just started chatting with Maria as we looked at the coins on display,” he recalled. “We got on well, so I invited her for coffee.”
One thing led to another, and they were married a year later.
Diego’s story of romance blooming in our coin room caught the attention of the competition judges who awarded him the prize in the third and final round of our 125th anniversary competition where we asked people to share their memories or connection to The Perth Mint.
Each of the winners receives a special 125th Anniversary 2024 1oz Silver Proof coin, which features a trio of iconic Australian wildlife species – the koala, kangaroo and kookaburra.
“I love the animal designs on The Perth Mint coins so this one is special to me,” Diego said.
He is also a keen collector of the Lunar series coins.
“When I first came to Perth I could not afford to buy coins, but when I finally managed some savings, I came to visit the Mint with the intention of buying a gold sovereign like my grandfather used to give me. But instead, I noticed the Lunar coins and I thought, this is the time to start my own tradition.”
He has been buying the Lunar coins ever since.
“The coins are all beautiful. I would love to collect gold but for now silver coins and bars are more accessible for me.”
Both he and Maria work in the hospitality industry. Maria says she was not always a coin enthusiast but Diego’s passion for collecting has rubbed off and she also looks forward to adding to their growing collection.
The announcement of the third winner of the Your Story is Our Story competition brings to a close our 125th anniversary celebrations.
Each of the events and initiatives throughout 2024 had a focus on celebrating our community links and sharing the stories of the people behind our golden history.
Highlights included the launch of a webpage featuring a timeline of key moments in our 125 years and the people who contributed along the way, the release of special limited mintage anniversary coins and the employee celebration in November.
CEO Paul Graham said the milestone year highlighted our history but also the important role the Mint continues to play in the WA economy.
“It was wonderful for us to look back on our amazing 125 years of continuous operation, and see what has changed since 1899,” he said.
“But I am also proud to note what has remained the same. We still hold the same overriding commitment to creating coins of exceptional quality and exporting them to the world.
“I look forward to continuing that commitment with all of you into the future.”
