The design of the Mint's Visitor Center was an homage to the architect Thomas Jefferson, his home at Monticello, and the Rotunda at the University of Virginia. Jefferson founded the U.S. system of currency... a decimal system based on Dollars. He loved octogons.
The project weenie... visual icon... a golden statue of Liberty drawing upon Saint-Gauden's $20 Dollar gold double eagle coin, surmounting ostensibly, a billion dollars in gold bullion.
Photo Op!.
The film in the Third Dimension Theater was to celebrate the transformation of raw gold into numismatic art... the miners... the sculptors... the artisans at the Mint... the minters... right before your very eyes!