The Mint

The Mint stands at 10 Macquarie Street is the oldest public building in the Sydney central business district. Built between 1811 and 1816 as the southern wing of the Sydney Hospital, it was then known as the Rum Hospital. Financed with 45,000 gallons of rum, Governor Macquarie’s ‘Rum Hospital’ provided 200 beds for convict patients. Today the Mint houses Sydney Living Museums’ head office, venue hire spaces, a restaurant, shop and cafe, and is also home to the Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection.