how come a coin-making factory is called a mint ?

Question

Is there any correlation to the herb of the same name ? I hate it when people selling consumer electronics or other non-numismatic items say it's in mint condition, when it never came from a mint. I want to be a smartass and ask if it comes in any other flavors.

Answer 1

The problem with English is we not only have words, that have more than one meaning, but are also are spelled the same. The word mint is from Middle English, which came from the old English word mynet (means coin). Today the noun, is a place where money is coined by the Authority of a government. The verb, is to form by stamping or punching. Used as an adjective we have "as if new". You are waisting your time with the flavor joke on a person who is a true coin collector or numismatist, it will go over his head. When someone say mint to me, I never think of the one used in tea or a candy. In fact it never crosses my mind at all. That is unless someone is serving tea or candy. I am not a collector per se of ancient Greek coins, I do have a few, but don't get deep into them, so I am not sure what the Ancient Greeks or Persians, to think of them, called a mint. You eat the mints I will collect the coins. It is a great feeling to have in ones hand, a coin George Washington may have spent for lunch.

Answer 2

A mint is where money is coined by the authority of the government.It also means when something is in its original condition. It is also a plant used for flavoring.As you can see, it is a word with several meanings, one having nothing to do with the other.It depends on it's applied usage.

Answer 3

Production of coins,commemorative coins or any related materials is know as mintage of coins.So the word mint is the root word of mintage.The word mint is similar to the word burn which it has double meaning where it can be used to burn something as well as burn a document to a CD or DVD.