Blog
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December 2, 2013
The McCord Museum Visit
While visiting bigger institutions in Montréal, the museum planning team decided to drop into the McCord Museum and take a look at the ways they are using tablets and apps in their exhibition spaces.
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November 25, 2013
We Drop into Pointe-à-Callière in Montréal
During two trips to Montréal this past July, as part of our ongoing program of museum tours, the planning team visited the Montréal Museum of Archaeology and History at Pointe-à-Callière near the old city waterfront.
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November 18, 2013
Notes from the Collection: A Buying Trip to Toronto
Recently, from October 3 to 5th, collections staff were at the Toronto Coin Expo, held at the Toronto Reference Library on Yonge Street. The show boasts informative lectures, a large auction of coins, tokens and paper money as well as a showroom, called a bourse, where dealers greet clients and buy and sell material.
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November 12, 2013
The Last of the New Polymer Notes are Released
On 7 November, the Bank of Canada released the new five and ten dollar bills into circulation. I won’t say ‘released onto an unsuspecting public’ as the official introduction to the new bills took place last April in a big event in front of the former Museum featuring a live presentation by Chris Hadfield beamed from the International Space Station.
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November 5, 2013
A Visit to Centre des sciences de Montréal
Twice this past July, members of the museum planning team took the train to Montréal to have a look at some of the excellent museums there.
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October 28, 2013
Director’s chair : A little help from our friends
In one of my favourite cinematic moments, the 11 year-old chess prodigy, Josh Waitzkin, imagines sweeping the pieces off a chess board in order to help him think more clearly about an important game of chess. It is a championship game and he is on the brink of winning it all. -
October 7, 2013
The Cases are Almost Empty
For the first time since they went into their cases in 1980, over 2000 coins, notes, beads and shells are coming back out. The Museum’s curatorial staff are busily pulling panels from cases, placing coins into specially prepared drawers and sliding notes into acid-free Mylar envelopes.
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September 24, 2013
Curators Begin Removal of Artifacts
The doors were barely closed following Big Top Farewell event before Chief Curator Paul Berry and his team began emptying display cases that had been sealed shut since 1980. The biggest task involved removing more than 2500 bank notes from the room we knew as Gallery 8.
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September 16, 2013
Notes from the Collection : 2013 RCNA Convention Winnipeg
Another convention of the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association (RCNA) wrapped up in July. This year the convention was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It was the first time in over thirty years that the RCNA Convention made a stop there.
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September 6, 2013
First Artifacts to Leave the Museum: And they were big
Before the museum closed for renovations on 2 July, technicians began to remove the heavier artifacts in late May. First to go was the strong box. Built of ¼” thick welded steel plates, this trunk was used by the Bank of Upper Canada in Toronto between 1821 and 1866.
