Skip to content
  • FR
FR
  • About us
    Building, illuminated glass towers on either side of an old, square, stone building.

    About us

    We're here to help you understand what the Bank of Canada does and how it matters to you.

    About the Bank of Canada

    Find out what the Bank does, who runs the Bank and how it is separate from the political process.

    Connect with us

    We'd love to hear from you! Contact us by email, phone or mail—or join us on social media.

  • Visit

    Visit

    • Plan your visit
    • Accessibility and special needs
    • Code of conduct
    • COVID-19 protocols

    Money in 10 Questions: Kids Edition

    On view until Fall 2024. A play-based exhibition where kids learn the basics of money and personal finance—and have fun doing it.

    Connect with us

    We'd love to hear from you! Contact us by email, phone or mail—or join us on social media.

  • Explore

    Exhibitions

    • Permanent exhibition
    • Special exhibitions
    • Travelling exhibitions
    • Past exhibitions

    Blog

    Collection

    • About the Collection
    • Collection Services
    • Canadian Bank Notes Series
    • Search the Collection
    Un circuit imprimé d’un ordinateur avec des dizaines de circuits et un ventilateur.

    Understanding cryptocurrencies

    Most of us are aware of them, but how much do we really understand about cryptocurrencies?

  • Learn

    Learn

    • Activities and games
    • Education blog
    • External resources
    • Lesson plans
    • School programs
    • Video discussion guides

    All About Money

    Virtual program: Get your students talking about money with this lively and interactive virtual classroom presentation.

    Mo’ money, mo’ questions

    But what do you do with money once you have it? That’s for you to decide. A budget can really help. It will allow you to keep track of what you earn (income) and what you spend (expenses).

Notice of temporary closure
The Museum will be closed from Tuesday, December 19, 2023 to Wednesday, January 3, 2024 for the Holiday Season.
  • Home
  • The Museum Blog

The Cases are Almost Empty

By: Graham Iddon


October 7, 2013
Share this page on Facebook
Share this page on Twitter
Share this page on LinkedIn
Share this page by email

The curatorial team pulls hundreds of artifacts from the cases of the Currency Museum

A row of empty museum cases

For the first time since they went into their cases in 1980, over 2000 coins, notes, beads and shells are coming back out. The Museum’s curatorial staff are busily pulling panels from cases, placing coins into specially prepared drawers and sliding notes into acid-free Mylar envelopes. Frankly, it can take up to three museum directors scratching their heads simultaneously to decide how to get into some of the heavier cases.

Panels were removed from cases and stacked against the wall of the old vault while the artifacts they contained - still in excellent condition - were carefully removed and stored. Coins and bills were checked against a master list, tiny labels were printed, items were organized, the place began taking on a very different look.

One of the cases was a model of a shipwrecked French man-of-war. The real ‘Chameau’ departed France in 1725 ferrying, among other things, a cargo of uncirculated coins to pay the wages of the soldiers and civil servants in New France. A late summer storm drove the ship onto a reef north of the Fortress of Louisbourg where it sank with over 200 lives lost. For nearly 250 years this fabulous hoard of Louis XV silver and gold coins lay undiscovered. Then, in 1965, divers exploring near Baleine, Cape Breton came upon it. Nearly fifty years after that, some of the coins they raised from the wreck are once again being raised, this time from the model of the wreck of the Chameau, to be placed safely in storage until next time.

Woman taking coin from a case

Content type(s): Blog posts
We want to hear from you! Do you have an idea for a blog post you’d like to see?

Subscribe to The Museum Blog
The Museum Blog

Mo’ money, mo’ questions

But what do you do with money once you have it? That’s for you to decide. A budget can really help. It will allow you to keep track of what you earn (income) and what you spend (expenses).

Un circuit imprimé d’un ordinateur avec des dizaines de circuits et un ventilateur.

Understanding cryptocurrencies

Most of us are aware of them, but how much do we really understand about cryptocurrencies?

Photo, a tabletop with several printed paper forms and hand-written documents plus a bank card.  

A checkup on cheques

With the continuing rise of e-transfers and electronic payments, people have been predicting the death of the humble cheque for decades. But it hasn’t happened yet.

30 Bank Street
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0G9, CANADA
613‑782‑8914

  • Things to do

  • Plan your visit
  • Find educational resources
  • Search the Collection
  • Connect with us
  • Things to see

  • Canadian bank notes
  • Exhibitions
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Things to know

  • Accessibility and special needs
  • Code of conduct
  • COVID-19 protocols
  • Privacy
●●
Bank of Canada Museum

Visit the Bank of Canada web site ›

We use cookies to help us keep improving this website.

Accept and continue