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    Collage, photo of wild west street, old bank notes, old counterfeiting brochure.

    Security is in the bank note

    Security printing is a game of anticipating and responding to criminal threats. Counterfeiting is a game of anticipating and responding to bank note design. This cat and mouse relationship affects every aspect of a bank note.

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    Needs or wants? That is the question!

    Do you need it, or do you want it? That’s an important question to ask before buying anything. This activity is designed to teach kids how to prioritize their needs and wants, and how to make informed choices when shopping.

    Price check: Inflation in Canada

    All about inflation: what it is, what it means and how it's measured. Students will learn how the consumer price index is calculated and create their own student price index to measure the prices that matter most to them.

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The Museum will be closed on Saturday, April 29 and Sunday, April 30 for maintenance.
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Becoming a Collector II

By: Graham Iddon


May 20, 2014

On being the amateur collection manager

So now you’ve decided that collecting currency is far more fascinating than collecting 14th Century Flemish altar paintings and have begun to accumulate some items. Good for you, those paintings are a bother to dust and currency is far easier to take care of. Nevertheless, we don’t recommend keeping your coins in an old sock or sticking your bank notes into your copy of The Da Vinci Code. We know you aren’t the British Museum, but there are a lot of simple and cheap things you can do to safeguard your treasured finds.

Probably your most basic starting point is to seek out a cool, dry place in which to store them. This means that most basements, attics, garages, garden sheds or bomb shelters are a bad idea. Paper is ‘hygroscopic’ which means that it easily absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, so your paper items need to be stored someplace that is dry and likely to remain so. Next, purchase inexpensive plastic sleeves. Sleeves, envelopes and binder pages are available at many hobby stores or coin dealers and are generally made of clear acrylic or polyester materials such as Mylar. There is a vast variety of these things available, ranging from foam lined, acrylic boxes for individual items to binder pages for large numbers of coins or notes. PVC or vinyl-based materials (soft and rubbery) are not safe and can damage your collection. As well, unless noted on the package, most paper envelopes are not acid free and will put your paper artifacts at risk.

Always store and display your paper items out of direct sunlight. All inks will fade with exposure to UV rays and paper will yellow.

Generally, the sort of care necessary for paper items will cover the needs of far more robust metal objects. High humidity will corrode certain metals so a dry place is still recommended. Coins are easily scratched and dented as well, so handle with care and store them separate from one another. Silver has special needs owing to its tendency to tarnish. You must keep rubber and silver apart as the rubber gives off hydrogen sulphide, which is a prime agent of silver tarnish. Storing with wool, velvet or felt will also promote this corrosion. Tightly sealed acrylic boxes or cardboard frames lined with Mylar are good ways of retarding tarnish and you should handle your silver coins with cotton gloves. Enjoy and take care.

A white glove

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Content type(s): Blog posts

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The Museum Blog

March 22, 2023

Security is in the bank note

By: Graham Iddon


Collage, photo of wild west street, old bank notes, old counterfeiting brochure.
Security printing is a game of anticipating and responding to criminal threats. Counterfeiting is a game of anticipating and responding to bank note design. This cat and mouse relationship affects every aspect of a bank note.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Economy, Financial literacy Grade level(s): Grade 07 / Secondary 1, Grade 08 / Secondary 2, Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
February 2, 2023

Teaching art with currency

By: Adam Young


From design to final product, bank notes and coins can be used to explore and teach art, media and process.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Arts, Education Grade level(s): Grade 05, Grade 06, Grade 07 / Secondary 1, Grade 08 / Secondary 2, Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
January 20, 2023

New Acquisitions—2022 Edition

By: David Bergeron, Krista Broeckx


It’s a new year—the perfect time to look back at some notable artifacts the Museum added to the National Currency collection from 2022. Each object has a unique story to tell about Canada’s monetary and economic history.
Content type(s): Blog posts
December 6, 2022

Money: it’s a question of trust

By: Graham Iddon


Photo collage, parking meter, old bank notes and an early bank card.
The dollars and cents we use wouldn’t be worth anything to anybody if we didn’t have confidence in it. No matter if it’s gold or digits on a hard drive, public trust is the secret ingredient in a successful currency.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Economy

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K1A 0G9, CANADA
613‑782‑8914

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