(And no, we’re still not the Mint!)
In a recent meeting, a member of our team accidentally referred to the Bank of Canada Museum as the “Currency Museum.” (And nothing was ever seen of him again…) It was an honest slip, but if we are occasionally making that mistake ourselves, it’s probably worth re‑visiting this subject for our public. The Currency Museum and the Bank of Canada Museum are actually two very different things. We were first called the Currency Museum because we highlighted the National Currency Collection (NCC)—an extensive international collection and the most complete collection of Canadian currency in the world. It was, and is, a public collection as well as an effective educational tool. Building a museum to display and interpret it seemed only natural. Why we are no longer the Currency Museum is a more complicated issue.
In 1963, Governor Louis Rasminsky (left) gave the go-ahead to the Currency Museum’s first curator, Major Sheldon Carroll (right) to amass the most comprehensive collection possible of Canadian currency. (BoC Photo Collection 153-24A)
We don’t know exactly when the idea of the new Bank of Canada Museum was first conceived, but a significant milestone in its genesis occurred on 23 June 2010 at 13:41:41 eastern daylight time (roughly speaking). As a few of you may suspect, I’m talking about the 2010 Central Canada earthquake. No, the idea for a new museum wasn’t any revelation caused by a bonk on the noggin from a falling ceiling tile. However, the 5.0 local magnitude shake-up did have an impact on the renovation schedule of the Bank of Canada’s head office complex. Just as it was an opportune time to build the Currency Museum when the 1970s complex was being constructed, it seemed an opportune time to re‑build (and reimagine) the Museum when the same complex was being renovated 40 years later.
The Arthur Erickson designed Bank of Canada head office rises: 1974.
The Bank of Canada head office has been surrounded by fences and torn up concrete since 2013 but by autumn 2016, renovations are nearing completion.
For most of its 30 odd years, the Museum was part of the Currency Department of the Bank. But a few years before it closed, the Currency Museum officially became an arm of the Communications Department. And this was the crucial factor that would change the future mission of the Museum. Here was an opportunity to develop an extraordinary outreach tool to help educate Canadians about what the Bank does. If you need clarification, it’s worth reading our mission statement—there’ll be a test later, so pay attention.
To creatively bring the work of the Bank of Canada to Canadians by demystifying the Bank’s key functions and interpreting Canada’s monetary heritage; and to provide access to the National Currency Collection.
The Currency Museum entrance, ca 2008.
The Bank of Canada Museum entrance, ca 2017.
Though we are no longer a currency museum per se, the National Currency Collection will not be taking a back seat. Its displays will cover most of the outside perimeter of the new galleries with almost 1,400 artifacts accompanied by more than 20,089 words of support copy. The number of artifacts on permanent display is now smaller, but the artifacts carry an additional burden: to provide support for the subject matter of the main galleries. As money is the blood of the economy, our artifacts can go a long way to help us understand the greater story of the economy and the Bank of Canada.
Galleries 6 and 5 of the Currency Museum showing dozens of artifacts from Canadian numismatic history.
A mock-up of a proposed arrangement of artifacts on the vault wall of the new Bank of Canada Museum with its digital label terminal in front. It may not appear like this when complete.
One of the key themes of the Bank of Canada Museum is the interrelatedness of all elements of our economy. This interrelatedness begins with the economic input of the individual. We want to make Canadians the centre from which all the museum content radiates. By educating visitors about their roles in the Canadian and world economies, we will bring the functions and purposes of the Bank of Canada closer to home.
We want to hear from you! Do you have an idea for a blog post you’d like to see?
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Blog posts
The Museum Blog
May 22, 2025
Speculating on the piggy bank
By: Graham Iddon
Ever since the first currencies allowed us to store value, we’ve needed a special place to store those shekels, drachmae and pennies. And the piggy bank—whether in pig form or not—has nearly always been there.
Content type(s):
Blog posts
Subject(s):
Arts,
Business,
Economics,
English language arts,
Financial literacy,
Geography,
Health,
History,
Math,
Science
Grade level(s):
Grade 09 / Secondary 3,
Grade 10 / Secondary 4,
Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5
February 26, 2025
New acquisitions—2024 edition
Bank of Canada Museum’s acquisitions in 2024 highlight the relationships that shape the National Currency Collection.
Content type(s):
Blog posts
February 11, 2025
Money’s metaphors
Buck, broke, greenback, loonie, toonie, dough, flush, gravy train, born with a silver spoon in your mouth… No matter how common the expression for money, many of us haven’t the faintest idea where these terms come from.
Content type(s):
Blog posts
August 6, 2024
Treaties, money and art
The Bank of Canada Museum’s collection has a new addition: an artwork called Free Ride by Frank Shebageget. But why would a museum about the economy buy art?
Content type(s):
Blog posts
Subject(s):
Arts,
History
July 16, 2024
Rai: big money
By: Graham Iddon
An item is said to have cultural value when it can be directly associated with the history, people, beliefs or rituals important to a society. It’s the same with a rai—its value can be greater depending upon who authorized it, who carved it and who subsequently owned it.
Content type(s):
Blog posts
Subject(s):
Economics,
Geography,
History
Grade level(s):
Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5
April 18, 2024
Lessons from the Great Depression
By: Graham Iddon
What the stock market crash of 1929 did was starkly reveal the weaknesses of economic systems that had evolved from the unregulated capitalism of the late 19th century.
Content type(s):
Blog posts
Subject(s):
Financial literacy,
History
Grade level(s):
Grade 09 / Secondary 3,
Grade 10 / Secondary 4,
Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5
March 25, 2024
Welcoming Newfoundland to Canada
By: David Bergeron
Newfoundland’s entry into Confederation marked the end of an era when Canadian provinces issued their own coins and paper money.
Content type(s):
Blog posts
December 19, 2023
New Acquisitions—2023 Edition
It’s that time of the year again—the wrap-up of the Bank of Canada Museum’s annual acquisition program. Here are a few highlights of the latest additions to the National Currency Collection.
Content type(s):
Blog posts
