Tucked away inside the grand 12-storey atrium of the National Bank of Canada building, at 244 Rideau St., the Canadian Currency Museum’s small size doesn’t detract from its unique visual presence.
Plaster hands with ancient beads, historical busts, cut-out photographs and dressed mannequins are among the many visuals that complement the thousands of coins and paper money inside the museum.
In the world history section of the museum the visuals outweigh the written context. But in the Canadian section, the viewer doesn’t have to search for meaning.
With more background information on the role of currency in Canadian history and culture the visuals illustrate rather than dominate the material.
Highlights of the exhibit include children’s interactive displays, video presentations and a visual explanation of how coins are made.
However, the real prize of this museum is its collection corner.
Designed to look like a bank vault, the exhibit’s walls are decorated with silver handles on slim drawers. Pulling back the handle exposes glass frames containing paper bills from every nation in the 20th century, and every period of Canadian history. The display allows the viewer to closely examine the details of each bill.
The glass cases in the centre of the room house hundreds of historical and contemporary coins. In one case there are samples of Canadian nickels from the last 30 years. Laid out in a linear fashion the small changes to the face, edges and design of the coins become evident.
Where most of the museum acts as a guided path through currency history, the collections corner allows the viewer to investigate the artifacts on their own in an interactive encyclopedia.
Overall, the museum provides a small window into Canadian and world history and is an excellent source for historical material that is worth the attention of any collector, historian or museum frequenter.