About the Collection

Bigger than your Uncle Cy’s coin collection

Begun modestly by the Bank of Canada in 1959, the Collection was mandated in 1962 to create a comprehensive collection of Canadian coins, tokens and paper money. This it did, obtaining large private collections as well as holdings from Library and Archives Canada. Over the years, the National Currency Collection (NCC) has also gathered many thousands of examples of currency and trade items from all over the world and from four millennia of human history. The Collection was officially designated as ‘The National Currency Collection’ in 1977. It continues to grow, particularly in accordance with its mandate to assemble the world’s most complete collection of Canadian currency and currency production items.

Boasting more than 120,000 artifacts, our collection goes beyond currency to include items used for producing money such as dies, plates, and engraving tools; items used to help keep track of money like ledgers and accounts kept by banks and governments, weights and scales for measuring money, cash registers, savings banks and wallets. Just to underline its inclusiveness, it also offers examples of counterfeit money.

Also of note is the Collection’s Library and Archives which contain more than 8,500 books, pamphlets, catalogues, and journals.