Medal design coordinator Renato Romozzi displays a Paralympic gold at the Royal Canadian Mint pavilion.

The Royal Canadian Mint pavilion was one of the runaway favorites at the Olympic Games.  The big draw wasn’t loonies, toonies or quarters but bonafied Olympic bling. Eager for a chance to see and feel real Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals, more than 110,000 people passed through the pavilion during the Games.

In part because of that extraordinary success, the Mint has decided to stick around for the Paralympics, in a new home at the Vancouver Public Library’s central branch. I stopped by today to discover that the pavilion’s rock star status has hardly diminished. A line-up of people stretched through the library atrium, out the door and around the perimeter of the building, stopping near a sign that announced a 2 1/2 hour wait to get inside.

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Touching Paralympic Gold at the Royal Canadian Mint Pavilion