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    • Bank of Canada Museum
    • 30 Bank Street
    • Ottawa, ON
    • K1A 0G9, Canada
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    The Canadian Roots of the “Greenback”

    Successfully counterfeiting a bank note in the mid-19th century required an engraver with reasonably high talent and very low ethics.

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    Build a Bank Note: Classroom Resource for Teachers

    Teach your students about Canada’s history, land and culture – with money! Download the free lesson plan.

    For Teachers: Designing a Bank Note that Reflects Canada

    Canadian bank notes are designed to reflect Canadian values and identity. Here’s a lesson idea that uses the new $10 note’s theme of social justice and human rights to look at bank note design and to help your students design their own notes.

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Voices from the Engraver

23 November 2014 - 30 November 2017

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This exhibition allowed visitors to experience the creative process, the technical skill and the sheer artistry that underlies every series of Canadian stamps and bank notes, from concept to final product. Original art, printing plates, videos, interactives, rare stamps, and money—lots of money—awaited visitors in this fun, informative and enriching look into the beauty and intricacy of Canadian stamps and bank notes.

Aimed at youth, families and adults, this exhibition was rich with artifacts and hands-on interactives and was accompanied by school and general programming. Visitors had the chance to design their own currency or stamps, reproduce the beautifully elaborate patterns of classic bank notes and browse through a millennium’s worth of engravers and engraving history

Produced in partnership with the Canadian Museum of History.

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Video

Photo Gallery

Woman at touch panel

Visitors could swipe through the centuries of engraving and printing history on a large-format timeline touch panel.

Museum exhibit

Visitors could reflect on the way we commemorate history and how it has evolved.

Children at touch panel

Visitors explored the biographies and interconnections of engravers past and present on a touch panel interactive.

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Every stage of an award-winning bank note design was presented.

Museum interactive unit

Visitors created their own guilloche patterns on our hypotrochoid (similar to Spirograph©) drawing station.

Children with paper

Visitors took home their guilloche creations.

Printing plate

Visitors were able to inspect the nuances of a printing plate.

Money on display

Visitors could browse through a great assortment of Canadian bank notes and stamps.

Printing plate

A hand-engraved plate was displayed alongside its printed result.

engraving tools

The tools of the engraver were displayed in detail.

Enlarged postage stamp

Visitors were given got the fascinating story behind Canada’s first stamp.

Bank notes and stamps

Visitors compared the ever-changing iconography of Canadian stamps and bank notes.

30 Bank Street
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0G9, CANADA
613 782-8914
museum-musee@bankofcanada.ca

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  • Plan Your Visit
  • About The Museum
  • About the Bank
  • Visitor Services
  • Museum Services
  • Partners
  • Contact
  • Blog

Explore

  • Permanent Exhibition
  • Special Exhibitions
  • Travelling Exhibitions
  • Past Exhibitions
  • About the Collection
  • Collection Services
  • Canadian Bank Notes Series
  • Search the Collection
  • Learn

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