CENTimental Journey

27 June 2014 - 26 June 2015

This temporary exhibition, hosted at the Canadian Museum of History, walked visitors through more than 150 years of the Canadian 1-cent piece. Featuring 12 significant coins, the exhibition evoked Canadian and world history even as it profiled our humble pennies. The coins were backed up with entertaining graphics in a fun catalogue format demonstrating the enormous change in the buying power of the cent over the past 100 years. Museum visitors were invited to come and see both the first and the last pennies struck at the Royal Canadian Mint—and to come and see what they could buy.

Photo Gallery

Penny

The last penny made by the Royal Canadian Mint.

Penny

Pennies used to be much bigger.

Penny sculpture

How many pennies made up the Penny Wall? 16,500 and change!

Museum panel

Yes, the reference here is T. Eaton.

Museum panel

One of our staff designers illustrated this exhibition in a turn of the 20th century style.

Museum panel

The modern equivalent was designed to look like a computer tablet.

Museum cases

The three window case downstairs at the Canadian Museum of History.

Skates

Modern skates are far more sophisticated than their 1912 counterparts.

Museum display

The internet based catalogue window.

Skates

There is no direct modern equivalent to the skates of 1912; it’s hard to compare prices.

Rolled pennies

No, these rolls weren’t filled completely with pennies, just wooden dowels.

Magnifying glass

The display featured three magnifiers in wooden frames.

Magnifying glass

Each magnifier has its own light for taking close looks at the artifacts.

30 Bank Street
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0G9, CANADA
613‑782‑8914