Bank of Canada Museum facts for kids
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The new location of the Bank of Canada Museum (the entrance is below, on the left)
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| Established | 1980 |
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| Location | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
The Bank of Canada Museum (French: Musée de la Banque du Canada) is a cool place to learn about money! It used to be called the Currency Museum. It first opened in 1980 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The museum closed for a while in 2013 for big renovations. It reopened on July 1, 2017, in a brand-new building. This new building is connected to the main Bank of Canada building underground.
The museum used to show off the National Currency Collection. This collection has over 100,000 items related to money from all over the world! These items include coins, banknotes, and even tools used to make money. It also had old ledgers, weights, scales, and even cash registers. Most of these items are now stored away, but the museum is working to show them again or make them available online.
The National Currency Collection also has a library with over 8,500 books and journals about money. Some of these books are from the Middle Ages!
The Museum offers fun learning programs for school groups and the public. You can join these programs in both English and French.
The Museum's Story
The idea for a national money collection started in the late 1950s. James Elliott Coyne, who was the head of the Bank of Canada, suggested it.
In 1959, an expert named G.R.L. Potter was hired. He helped the Bank start collecting items that showed how Canadian money developed over 150 years.
Later, in 1962, Sheldon S. Carroll became the Bank's first Curator. A curator is someone who manages a museum's collection. He was told to collect as many Canadian coins, tokens, and paper money as possible. He also collected old and new money from other countries. This is when most of the museum's collection was put together.
The museum got items from many places. In 1963, they bought a huge collection from J. Douglas Ferguson. He was a very famous Canadian expert on money. This collection included paper money from when Canada was under French rule.
Another big collection came in 1965 from the Public Archives of Canada. This included the Hart Collection, which the Canadian government bought in 1883.
In 1974, the Bank bought a large collection from the Château de Ramezay. This included items from R.W. McLachlan, another important money expert from the late 1800s and early 1900s.
In 1977, the Canadian government officially named the Bank's collection the National Currency Collection.
The museum first opened its doors to the public on December 5, 1980. It closed on July 2, 2013, for four years while the Bank of Canada building was updated. Then, on July 1, 2017, it reopened with its new name: the Bank of Canada Museum.
What You Can See at the Museum
The new museum has many cool exhibits for both kids and adults. It shows money from all over the world, but mostly Canadian money.
The museum often changes its temporary exhibits. Some recent ones have been about Viola Desmond (a Canadian civil rights hero) and "Luck and Lore" (about lucky coins and money superstitions).
In May 2023, the Bank of Canada Museum launched a special exhibit called "Money in 10 Questions: Kids Edition". This exhibit is super interactive! It helps kids understand basic money ideas.
To see many of the exhibits and items, you can create a virtual 'avatar'. You get a wristband that connects to computers. This lets you see interactive and digital versions of the museum's items and exhibits.
One fun interactive game is the '2% Inflation Rate' game. You can play a game like Space Invaders. In this game, you shoot targets related to inflation rates. Inflation is how much prices go up over time.
You can also create your own "currency" after you learn about money from the exhibits. The museum uses fun cartoon-style characters to help you learn.
Museum Connections
The Bank of Canada Museum is connected with other important groups. These include the CMA, CHIN, and the Virtual Museum of Canada.
