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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Blog posts
The Museum Blog
May 24, 2019
During World War Two, the Bank created the Foreign Exchange Control Board (FECB). One of its major tasks was to find as many US dollars as possible to pay for American imports.
The Hunting of the Greenback
By: Graham Iddon
Content type(s):
Blog posts
May 15, 2019
Economic bubbles continued to pop up regularly throughout history, and still do today.
What goes up…
By: Graham Iddon
Content type(s):
Blog posts
Subject(s):
Economy,
Social studies
Grade level(s):
Grade 08 / Secondary 2,
Grade 09 / Secondary 3,
Grade 10 / Secondary 4,
Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
April 25, 2019
In heritage conservation, broken metal objects can be reassembled with an adhesive most commonly used for repairing glass and ceramics.
Welding with Liquid
By: Stephanie Shank
Content type(s):
Blog posts
April 22, 2019
Used extensively in the 19th century, this type of hand-operated press printed secure financial documents using the intaglio method.
Conserving the Spider Press
By: Stephanie Shank
Content type(s):
Blog posts
April 1, 2019
How on earth did an “S” with a line or two through it come to represent a dollar? Any ideas? No? That’s OK, you’re in good company.
How Does $ = Dollar?
By: Graham Iddon
Content type(s):
Blog posts
March 29, 2019
In 1977, the Royal Canadian Mint wanted to reduce the size of the penny in response to the rising price of copper. Little did the Mint know that the Toronto Transit Commission’s reaction would force the cancellation of the program.
TTC Tokens and the Proposed 1978 Cent
By: David Bergeron
Content type(s):
Blog posts
March 8, 2019
The printing firms’ design teams went to work and came back with a surprising result: vertical notes.
The Vertical Note That Almost Was
By: Graham Iddon
Content type(s):
Blog posts
February 19, 2019
The life expectancy of a two-dollar paper note was about a year. But coins can last for more than 10 years.
The Coming of the Toonie
Content type(s):
Blog posts
February 8, 2019
Successfully counterfeiting a bank note in the mid-19th century required an engraver with reasonably high talent and very low ethics.
The Canadian Roots of the “Greenback”
By: Graham Iddon
Content type(s):
Blog posts
