The Museum Blog

  • December 15, 2014

    New Acquisitions

    By: Raewyn Passmore


    The recent additions to the National Currency Collection described below are from very different parts of the world and are between 1500 and 2500 years old.
    Content type(s): Blog posts
  • November 28, 2014

    The Big Nickel

    By: Paul S. Berry


    The commemorative 1951 5 cent piece was issued to mark the 200th anniversary of the naming of nickel and its isolation as an element. Recently, I had the great pleasure to participate in the Big Nickel anniversary festivities and give a talk about the design competition for the 1951 5 cent coin.
    Content type(s): Blog posts
  • November 6, 2014

    The Adventure of Exhibit Planning VI

    By: Graham Iddon


    This is not the time for ‘nay sayers’. Basically, we planned a luxury car knowing that when all was said and done, it was going to be a very nice family sedan (maybe with the big engine?).
    Content type(s): Blog posts
  • September 29, 2014

    The Adventure of Exhibit Planning V

    By: Graham Iddon


    Now the writer takes a deep breath and attempts to take a subject like the ‘representation of 75 years of national identity as depicted on stamps and bank notes’ from 50 pages of research and squash it into 65 words.
    Content type(s): Blog posts
  • August 6, 2014

    The Senior Deputy Governor’s Signature

    By: Graham Iddon


    Steven S. Poloz & Carolyn Wilkins
    For much of their history, Canadian bank notes have represented a promise, a guarantee that they could be redeemed for “specie” (gold and silver coins) at their parent institution.
    Content type(s): Blog posts
  • July 28, 2014

    Becoming a Collector V

    By: Graham Iddon


    Visual glossary of design and security details of Canadian Bank Note: 2004, $20 face
    Suppose you walk into a bar frequented by currency collectors and in an attempt to join in you refer to a ‘planchette’ as a ‘rosette’ (beer mugs hit the tables and the pianist stops playing). This could be pretty humiliating and you’ll probably never be able to go to that bar again, at least not on numismatic night.
    Content type(s): Blog posts
  • July 21, 2014

    Becoming a Collector IV

    By: Graham Iddon


    Visual glossary of design details of Canadian coins
    Now that you have a grasp of preservation techniques for coins, you might want to familiarize yourself with the finer points of their anatomy. It is all part of your numismatic education and besides, you need to be informed and sound informed when you are buying coins at flea markets or coin fairs.
    Content type(s): Blog posts
  • July 7, 2014

    Museum Reconstruction - Part 3

    By: Graham Iddon


    Bank of canada - Night
    Though naturally we are aware that the former Museum space is being gutted, the reality of seeing it empty is still pretty strange for most of us here. In the last blog of this series we showed you the empty cafeteria space that will become the new Museum, as well as some images of the old Museum as it was at the time: stuffed with odds and ends of exhibit cases, the occasional display still on the walls.
    Content type(s): Blog posts
  • June 23, 2014

    CENTimental Journey

    By: Graham Iddon


    With all the blogging we’ve been doing for Voices from the Engraver, you’d think we had nothing else on our exhibition plate. We do, actually, and it’s called CENTimental Journey. This temporary exhibition, hosted at the Canadian Museum of History, walks you through more than 150 years of the Canadian 1 cent piece.
    Content type(s): Blog posts
  • June 16, 2014

    Museum Reconstruction - Part 2

    By: Graham Iddon


    We are coming up on a year since we closed the doors on the physical museum. During that year, we’ve worked very hard to make sure everybody knows that we are still a functioning museum and one that will be opening its doors again in a few years on a beautiful new space, with an expanded mission and mandate.
    Content type(s): Blog posts
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