Collection
Rifle
Controlling the Mint's pigeon problem!
The Perth Mint
The Mint's gatekeepers used this rifle in the past to help control the problematic number of pigeons on the premises. Rest assured - this practice is no longer used today!
Unfortunately, some gatekeepers in the past were not crack riflemen. Chief Technical Officer, Charles Cook, was forced to take charge of the rifle when one gatekeeper aiming too high, missed his target, leaving the stray bullet to fall dangerously back down to earth.
Charles's son, Robert, who came to live in the first-floor residence at the Mint with his family in 1949, recalls his father was a crack shot with an almost perfect record. He would stand out on the rear first-floor balcony to shoot pigeons off the factory roof. Robert’s father allowed him a shot, but he missed and clipped the cast iron gutters!