More than 130 years of tradition, working together for the past 25.
While most only know the Colombian Mint since 1997, our history starts at end of the XIX century. In the 1880’s, the great grandfather of one of our founding families was in London learning about breweries to establish a new business back home. And happenstance dictated that he met with the leading precious metals firm of its time, Johnson Matthey – an historical gold refiner up to this century, which just sold its LBMA-accredited Good Delivery gold and silver business to Asahi Holdings in 2015
This refiner was popularly known for being the official gold assayers of the Bank of England and for manufacturing the first kilogram standards in platinum, still in use today. But it’s also responsible for the origin of Colombian Mint, as this chance encounter led our great grandfather to change ideas and return home with the knowledge and the ambition to establish a high-quality gold and silver refinery.
In the meantime, our deep-rooted tradition became an advantage once Colombian Mint was founded twenty-five years ago – still under our former name: CIIGSA S.A. Colombia’s Central Bank had recently became a major customer for our refined gold and it became clear it was time to spin-off this century-old family business. Our teams had received trainings from Johnson Matthey and other leading global refineries and our vision to expand our operations without sacrificing our integrity and reliability
illuminated the need for change.
Over the past decade, Colombian Mint became a refiner and assayer of the highest class, focused not only on the quality of our process, but also in the sustainability of our industry and in its compliance. For example. we were pioneers in the adoption of Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing frameworks to guarantee the integrity of our precious metals, from source to delivery – audited by Deloitte. And we actively support the US Agency for International Development’s revolutionary artisanal gold mining program in our country, commonly known as Oro Legal.
In 2015, CIIGSA welcomed a new owner, the Colombian Mint, and we concluded our rebranding process, abandoning the use of the corporate acronym. This step helped us grow internationally and improve the profitability of such a historically respected company. Moreover, being one of Colombia’s largest gold buyers, our parent company enables us to tap into investment opportunities not available to most market participants, which further reinforces our strategic position in the gold value chain.
Now, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Colombian Mint, it is only right to announce our new 99.99% purity bars, created by global icons and produced in our new facilities – exporting the finest Colombian gold to final customers the world.
Visit our website to learn more about our coins inspired in the mythology of the sun and in the legendary Muisca culture of El Dorado fame, as well as our bullion bars, with an obverse designed by Chris Costello, incorporating the national flower of Colombia.
The Colombian Mint is an internationally renowned refinery and assayer of gold and silver. Based in Colombia, we are trusted by miners across Latin America and by dore and bullion bar buyers around the world. Established in 1997, but gold experts since the XIX century.
