Unveiling the Bank of Canada Museum to the World
Well, to a chunk of it anyway. Every year the conference of the International Federation of Finance Museums (IFFM) draws museum directors from five continents to a get-together aimed at sharing best-practices and keeping up with the latest trends in the world of financial museums. Many of the delegates had been following our progress at the Bank of Canada Museum over the past four years, and there was a level of anticipation this year, because they knew I was going to talk to them about our opening and our experience to date.
This year was the Bank’s first opportunity to attend the conference with a museum in fully-operational mode back home, something which gave me the opportunity to step onto the stage as a featured speaker, offering the Bank’s perspective on what our teams accomplished. The presentation was met with enthusiastic interest.
From Paris to Mexico City; Museum Directors Need to Know
Philippe Gineste, Director of CitéCo (Cité de l’Économie et de la Monnaie) in Paris, set to open in 2019, took me aside early on to ask me about the pitfalls and opportunities the Bank of Canada had faced putting together our Museum. His interest was more than passing; his team at CitéCo is gearing up for a full year of trying to get all the myriad things they need done, done. He was happy to know we would offer the benefit of our experience whenever he wanted.
Philip List, Director of the host museum Erste Financial Life Park in Vienna, was happy to compare notes, given that he had just completed a similar museum earlier this year.
Silvia Singer, CEO of the Museo Interactivo de Economía in Mexico City, one of the early inspirations for the new Bank of Canada Museum, told me enthusiastically that she was planning to get to Ottawa as soon as possible to see for herself.
Philip List, Director Erste Financial Life Park, Vienna Austria.
Silvia Singer, CEO of the Museo Interactivo de Economía (MIDE) in Mexico City. The MIDE provided a great deal of inspiration for the Bank of Canada Museum.
A Conference About Museums’ Place in Economic and Financial Literacy
For the past four years now, the Bank of Canada Museum has been a member of the IFFM, an organization promoting the work of financial and central bank museums from North, Central and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. The October conference featured numerous presentations and workshops covering different aspects of the members’ work, as well as some lively debates on the state of financial and economic literacy in the world.
I was able to participate in a number of workshops with a variety of international colleagues.
IFFM workshop on economic literacy and gender issues.
I was proud to be able to present the new Bank of Canada Museum to museum directors from around the world.
The IFFM draws delegates from the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa.
Annamaria Lusardi, Academic Director of Global Financial Literacy Centre, Washington DC.
One of the joys of this conference is catching up with colleagues; here I am with Jakub Kunert of the Czech National Bank.
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The Museum Blog
March 15, 2016
This has been an extremely challenging exhibition to develop. We are taking, for us, the unprecedented step of interpreting something that is not only current but continually changing.
Decoding E-Money II
By: Graham Iddon
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February 18, 2016
In late April of 2015, the National Currency Collection finally succeeded in acquiring a Spanish gold cob—famous in legends and tales of pirates and their buried treasures!
New Acquisitions
By: David Bergeron
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December 17, 2015
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.
What’s in Your Stocking?
By: Graham Iddon
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November 10, 2015
Do you notice anything peculiar about this bank note? It’s blue; it’s denominated as 5-dollar; it has handsome portraits of Sir Wilfred Laurier on it…hold on a minute!
Money from Space
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October 29, 2015
Nova Scotia has long been a centre of trade that connected Europe, New England and the West Indies. Following the American Revolution, Halifax became the primary British port in North America and a hub of financial activity.
Royal Canadian Numismatic Association
By: Raewyn Passmore
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September 28, 2015
Before banks were established in remote regions of Canada, paying employees involved shipping currency long distances into wild and often lawless locations. The alternative to this risky enterprise was for the company to issue its own money. Called scrip…
Unpacking the Collection 3
By: David Bergeron
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September 15, 2015
It’s a historic day for us as well. It isn’t every day that the Bank of Canada introduces a new commemorative note.
The 2015 Commemorative $20 Bank Note Revealed
By: Graham Iddon
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August 19, 2015
During 1952, Comfort produced a number of pencil and watercolour design models for the face of the new notes. Some were updates of the traditional style while others were radically modern treatments.
Unpacking the Collection 2
By: David Bergeron
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August 5, 2015
In exchange for pizza and a day out of the office, several Bank employees were persuaded to dress up in period costumes and re-enact three key moments from the history of this shady “bank”.
Swindle! Canadian Phantom Banks
By: Graham Iddon
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