Museum of Money FAQ

It is a museum aimed at public education in economics in general with a stress on explaining the importance of money and financial institutions in guiding personal, business and government activities.

There are many specialized numismatic museums and collections. There is an excellent though small museum of American Financial History and there are several small museums or displays sponsored by various banks, such as our own Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the Bundesbank.

There are many specialized numismatic museums and collections. There is an excellent though small museum of American Financial History and there are several small museums or displays sponsored by various banks, such as our own Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the Bundesbank.

The need for a major museum devoted to economics has grown over the last 50 years. Money, credit cards, loans, mortgages, stocks, saving for college, saving for retirement and insuring to take care of ill-health and accidents are part of everyday life. Understanding the basic elements of why governments change taxation or try to control inflation is needed to help citizens vote sensibly. A museum can help provide the needed understanding in both an interesting and entertaining way.

A virtual museum is far more economical than a "bricks-and-mortar" museum. It certainly can be of considerable help in both education and entertainment. No one has yet built a virtual museum which can hold interest for an hour or so and generates repeat visits. We are going to try to do so. A virtual museum however, does not have the impact a "bricks-and-mortar" museum, where a visit is a social event, not just staring at a screen. Both aspects of a museum are needed.

One of the museum's key challenges will be the design of good economic games. There are a few around, but games which are educational, entertaining and are played more than once are difficult to design. We will be concerned with the use of such games.