Museum work experience

By Cerys Robinson

My name is Cerys, and I am a history student at the University of South Wales. In February 2024 I was fortunate enough to undertake a two-week work placement at the Royal Mint Museum. As a history student I found the placement extremely useful at giving me an insight into museum and heritage work, as this is an area that I am hoping to secure a career in.

I was able to participate in a variety of different activities whilst I was at the Museum. On my first day at the Museum I was warmly welcomed by the team, I was given a tour around the museum including the library and collections. I also went on a tour at the Royal Mint Experience (RME). Exhibitions Manager, Hannah Spruce, met me shortly after my tour and gave me an in-depth breakdown of every aspect of the RME, including showing me the space she was currently working on for the next annual exhibition. Throughout my first week I was also able to sit in a few of the VIP tour talks which are held at the RME.

At the end of my first week at the Museum, I took part in the Big Reminiscence Event, which the Museum staff had planned and organised for current and previous members of staff at the Mint. I found the event very interesting as I got to meet a variety of people from different generations who have passed through the Mint. I was able to assist people by going through picture books and helping them label themselves and their previous colleagues.

In my second week at the Museum I spent a lot of time working alongside Collections Access Officer, Susan Sandford, in the store. We spent a majority of the week reorganising and redocumenting the Museums medal collection, I found this fascinating as I was not aware of how many different medals that the Mint had actually created and struck for such a wide assortment of events, jobs, schools and countries to name a few of the categories. I was also able to help Collections Manager, Sarah Tyley, by documenting a vast collection of stamps which needed to be inputted into a database.

Throughout my time at the Museum I was able to assist Public Engagaement and Research Officer, David Mason, on multiple public enquiries. This included a morning at the Royal Mint labs where we were able to analyse some coins which were sent in by the public for examination and authentication. I was also able to help David find coin designs and documents in the library for another public enquiry.

I took part in a handful of different educational workshops alongside Education Manager, Amy Williams, these involved schools as well as home educated children. These workshops helped open my eyes to a variety of different techniques and ways to engage with children. I also helped Project Co-ordinator,  Bethan James, look through and document entries for the short story competition, which is held by the RMM annually. It was definitely exciting to be able to see some of the entries that had been submitted and read some potential winners of the competition.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Royal Mint Museum. I felt welcomed by everyone on the team. I particularly enjoyed my work involving the collections as it was a very hands-on experience. I value my time at the Museum greatly as it has really helped me explore the sector and see what happens behind the scenes. Thank you for having me and making me feel so involved with the team.