2009 marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the National Currency Collection. Conceived to serve as a small collection of notes issued by Canada’s chartered banks, the Collection, with over 100,000 artifacts, has become the largest repository of Canadian coins, tokens, and paper money in the world. It boasts hundreds of unique media of exchange, representative collections of foreign money from ancient times to the present, and a library with over 8,000 volumes. More than just an artifact warehouse, the Collection receives visitors and answers hundreds of questions each year from government departments, law enforcement, academia, and the public. Staff of the National Currency Collection also grant loans to cultural institutions, supply images for the media, and give presentations before various hobbyist groups. Most importantly, staff work to ensure that the material in their charge is well stored and registered so as to be available now and for future generations. Curators conduct research to better understand the development of our own Collection as well as the monetary history of colonial Canada and they share their results with Canadians through informed acquisitions, presentations, publications, exhibitions, and web programming. Broken Coins and Paper Promises, the story of money in 17th century Newfoundland, was our latest exhibition and will soon travel. It showcased artifacts from the Collection and archaeological excavations to tell the story of money in a remote but important corner of colonial Canada. This was just one exhibition in a string that in recent years has included a look at money of the early Hudson’s Bay Company (Funding the Adventurers, 2005) and Just Add Milk (2008), the story of Canada’s dairy tokens, a nostalgic look at this colourful, alternative form of currency.

Canada, Elizabeth II, 50 cents : 1959 (1973.0033.00018.000)

If our past is indicative of the future, the next 50 years should be just as exciting! Looking forward, staff will continue to explore the monetary history of this land and present their findings before eager audiences. Construction is underway on a facility to integrate the various elements of the Collection into one area. Environmentally-controlled storage vaults, work areas, a conservation lab and photographic studio, a library and rare book room, staff offices, as well as reception areas for the general public will all be located in this new area scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2010. We invite you to share in the experience of our next 50 years!