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What’s in Your Stocking?

By: Graham Iddon


December 17, 2015
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Money and holiday traditions

These days, while gift cards comprise a staggering percentage of gift giving, cash doesn’t always have the same cachet. In some quarters it seems a bit thoughtless; not where you want to land when it’s the thought that counts. But before you start sliding that pretty polymer note back into your wallet, why not reconsider? You’ll have history on your side. When the Three Wise Men trudged across the desert to honour the Christ Child, Gaspar and Balthasar brought frankincense and myrrh: the era’s versions of really pricey bath salts and essential oils. On the other hand, their third colleague, Melchior, brought gold. Now, did Balthasar then exchange a disapproving glance with Gaspar behind Melchior’s back for honouring the child with the first-century wad of cash? I think not, for gold and currency have held a deeply significant place in the holiday gift-giving practices of Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions (not to mention the obscure roots of pagan practices).

The Three Wise Men in a detail of Mary and Child Surrounded by Angels, a 526AD mosaic at the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy.
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons: Nina-no)

Consider, for example, one of the stories that have sprung up around St. Nicholas. Sixteen centuries before he got a makeover and became an elf employer and Xbox distributer, the story goes, the future saint was a well‑off orphan and later a bishop who had become a passionate philanthropist. He took pity on a family lately brought down in the world: a widower with three daughters. The widower didn’t have the funds to provide dowries for his daughters, and the young women were at risk of being sold into slavery. Anonymously, Nicholas gave them each a quantity of gold by variously tossing it through an open window or climbing down the chimney. By either (somewhat questionable) method, the money ended up in the women’s stockings and shoes as they hung on the mantel to dry. Okay, so it’s a stretch; but a fun tale nevertheless. Note that Nicholas didn’t give them spa days or infinity scarves, rather it was cold, hard cash. This was also fourth-century Turkey, so elves and reindeer were rather thin on the ground.

A detail of The Story of St. Nicholas by Fra Angelico, 1437. The Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome.
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons: Yorck Project)

The holiday traditions most of us enjoy are a grand mélange of Pagan, secular and theistic practices. In the Polish tradition, coins hidden beneath a plate at Christmas dinner brought wealth to the finder, Ukrainians finding spiderwebs (especially gold ones in trees) are to be blessed with wealth, and Czechs might place fish scales under your Christmas dinner plate to encourage good fortune. Every prop in the holiday drama generally has some sort of symbolic meaning—evergreen trees: life in the dead of winter, holly: Christ’s crown of thorns, the dreidel: Jewish resistance to oppression. Money, on the other hand, only seems to symbolize itself.


Dreidels at the Machne Yehuda Market, Jerusalem.
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons: Adiel Io)



In the Ukraine, a spiderweb in your Christmas tree means you will have wealth and good fortune.
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons: MSI Chicago)



Ew, fish scales under my plate! Relax, it’s a good thing—you’re going to have good fortune.
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons: Honza Groh)


But the strangest holiday wealth tradition of all is from Catalonia. Catalans, an ethnic group within northern Spain, feature a curious addition to their sprawling crèche scenes. Tucked into some discreet part of Bethlehem is Caganer, a little fellow squatting down to bless the earth with his “fertilizer” to ensure a good harvest and, therefore, wealth and good fortune.

Caganer blessing the earth with his gift of fertilizer for a good harvest and wealth.
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons: Slastic)

In an English household, you’re more likely to find your wealth in your food. In the English traditions, the Christmas pudding evolved from a medieval meat pie preserved with dried fruits to a richly delicious, brandy-soaked dessert with a hidden treat- coins to bring wealth and luck to those who find them. It may likely bring luck to their dentists if they aren’t careful, but this tradition is alive and well. The Royal Australian Mint offers the “Christmas Pudding Coin Pack”—a set of vintage sixpence and threepence coins marketed specifically for hiding in Christmas puddings.

Front and centre of the Ghost of Christmas Present is a spherical Christmas pudding. From the 1843 first edition of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons: John Leech)

Though you cannot bake them into your plum pudding, we at the Museum naturally advocate crisp, colourful and beautifully designed Canadian polymer bank notes for holiday giving. Remember, you’ll be in good company, and, anyway, finding myrrh is always a problem this late in the season.

Happy Holidays from the Bank of Canada Museum.

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Content type(s): Blog posts

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November 27, 2023

Mo’ money, mo’ questions

By: Heather Montgomery


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).
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Financial literacy Grade level(s): Grade 04, 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
November 16, 2023

Understanding cryptocurrencies

By: Graham Iddon


Un circuit imprimé d’un ordinateur avec des dizaines de circuits et un ventilateur.
Most of us are aware of them, but how much do we really understand about cryptocurrencies?
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Economy, Financial literacy Grade level(s): Grade 08 / Secondary 2, Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
September 12, 2023

A checkup on cheques

By: David Bergeron


Photo, a tabletop with several printed paper forms and hand-written documents plus a bank card.  
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.
Content type(s): Blog posts
July 31, 2023

The Scenes of Canada series $100 bill

By: Graham Iddon


Few of us ever get a chance to see a Scenes of Canada $100 bill. Which is a pity, because it is an example of great bank note design with even greater imagery by a master engraver.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): History
July 13, 2023

Caring for your bank notes

By: Graham Iddon


Collecting paper money seems simple enough. But, paper is delicate stuff and demands a gentle touch.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Arts
May 3, 2023

Teaching math using money

By: Jonathan Jerome


From skip counting to making change, working with money is a great way for students to practice math skills.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Economy, Financial literacy, Math Grade level(s): Early childhood / Kindergarten, Grade 01, Grade 02
April 4, 2023

Caring for your coins

By: Graham Iddon


Coin collecting can be a fun and fascinating hobby. But there are a few things you should know to keep your collection safe and in good condition. Because coins aren’t as robust as you might imagine.
Content type(s): Blog posts
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
November 14, 2022

The day Winnipeg was invaded

By: David Bergeron


People on the street were randomly stopped and searched, and some were even arrested and imprisoned in an internment camp. Even German marks replaced Canadian currency in circulation—in the form of If Day propaganda notes.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): History Grade level(s): Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
October 18, 2022

Positive notes

By: Krista Broeckx


The imagery on the Bank of Canada’s 1935 note series depicts the country’s rich industrial history.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): History
June 16, 2022

Army bills: Funding the War of 1812

By: David Bergeron, Graham Iddon


In 1812, British North America had no banks and little currency. With the prospect of war drying up supplies of coins, the government of Lower Canada decided to issue legal tender notes called “army bills” to pay for troops and supplies.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Economy, History
May 5, 2022

Between tradition and technology

By: Graham Iddon


Collage, man at an easel, paintings of birds and a goose illustration with comments written on it.
What was proposed was a complete about-face from the philosophy behind recent security printing. If photocopiers could easily deal with the colours and designs of the current series, then the next series should be bold and simple.
Content type(s): Blog posts

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