The Bank of Canada Museum (since 2017; before closing for renovation in 2013, it was known as the Currency Museum) is a museum dedicated to the history of money circulation in Canada and around the world. The museum’s collection depicts the journey of the Canadian monetary system from the first money with the arrival of the colonists to the present day.
Location
Previously located on the 1st floor of the main Bank of Canada building at the corner of Sparks Street and Bank Street in the City of Ottawa. As of 2017, it is located in a new underground building at the corner of Wellington and Sparks, a stone’s throw from the former building, which now houses only the Bank of Canada offices.
History
The idea for a national currency collection was first proposed in the late 1950s by Bank Governor James Coyne. In 1959, numismatic consultant G.R.L. Potter was brought in to help build the collection. Under his guidance, the bank began collecting artifacts that reflected the development of Canadian currency over the previous 150 years.
By 1962, Sheldon S. Carroll became the bank’s first museum curator. His task was to build the most comprehensive collection of Canadian coins, tokens and paper money. Carroll added to the collections of ancient, medieval and modern foreign currencies, as well as selected exhibits related to banking and finance. The bulk of the collection was assembled during this period.
Exhibits were acquired from individual collectors, private firms, and government agencies. In 1963, the bank acquired the collection of J. Douglas Ferguson, a well-known numismatist. It included paper money issued during the French regime and a collection of ancient, medieval and modern coins. Another important acquisition was the transfer of a large number of coins from the Public Archives of Canada in 1965. This included the unique Hart Collection, acquired by the Canadian government back in 1883.
In 1974, the bank acquired a large collection from the Château de Ramezay, home of the Montreal Numismatic and Antiquarian Society, Canada’s first numismatic society. This acquisition included rarities by Canada’s leading numismatist in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, R. R.W. McLachlan (R.W. McLachlan).
In 1977, the Canadian Secretary of State officially authorized the bank’s collection as the National Currency Collection.
The Currency Museum opened its doors to the public on December 5, 1980, when the collection was moved to the historic former Bank of Canada headquarters building. The building, designed by Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, housed one of the very first branches of the country’s Central Bank.
In 2013. The museum was closed for renovation and reopened its doors in 2017 in a new space, under a new name, with a changed design and concept. The exhibit has been much simplified and downsized, while at the same time, there are many interactive displays for children.
Collection
Since 2013, most of the museum’s collection has been in storage.
The museum’s collection contains over 100,000 items related to the monetary systems of Canada and the world, including Canada’s richest coin collection, collections on the history of coinage and paper money in Europe. These include coins, banknotes, coin stamps, scales, tokens, cash registers, purses, numismatic medals, and counterfeit specimens. Interactive stands tell about the ways of protection of money and the most famous cases of counterfeiting. The collection of banknotes is located on sliding shelves: visitors themselves pull out the necessary one and then push it back into the wall.
The museum archive and library contain over 8,500 books, pamphlets, catalogs, journals and other documents. The earliest of these date back to the Middle Ages. The museum offers various educational programs in English and French.