In 2013, the museum uploaded his entire collection of Belgian emergency banknotes and coins from the First World War. Recently, it has been completed with some new acquisitions from Ghent, Sint-Jans-Molenbeek and Zingem.
After all the banknotes and coins on display at the National Bank of Belgium’s Temporary Museum, in the fifth room a large cow makes a sudden appearance. But just what is this animal doing here?
Following the Museum’s temporary move to boulevard de Berlaimont, the decision was taken to showcase certain items from the collection that fit best into the new museum space or which had simply not yet been shown to the public.
According to historian N.G.L. Hammond, no individual changed the history of civilisation more than Alexander the Great. Yet, Alexander as a person is still a topic of discussion: was he a military genius or rather a murderous conqueror? High time, therefore, to put this deified general and his coins ‘in the spotlight’.
The collection of commodity money at the National Bank of Belgium museum now includes a recently acquired beaver pelt from Canada. Beaver skins were once used not only for clothing but also as money.
(Nederlands) 2014 wordt een memorabel jaar voor de Eurozone. Om te beginnen is het op 1 januari vijftien jaar geleden dat de euro giraal werd geïntroduceerd en twaalf jaar dat de munten en biljetten bestaan. Dit getal is symbolisch belangrijk omdat het ook om het aantal sterren gaat die afgebeeld zijn op de Europese vlag. Maar het belangrijkste getal is 18. De Eurozone verwelkomt immers zijn achttiende lidstaat: Letland.
The Museum of the National Bank of Belgium recently came into possession of a number of items which can be categorized as Commodity money. Shell money from Papua New Guinea, knife money from China, axe- and wheel money from Europe, all relics from a more or less distant past where notes and coins were not yet common.
The museum moves with the times and introduces a novel way to consult our collections. In the showcase containing emergency money you will notice a QR code to access our online catalogue of the Belgian emergency money of the First World War. Out with those smartphones!
During the first millennium BC, the Italian peninsula played a key role in Mediterranean history. As early as the 8th century BC, Etruscan cities sprang up as major commercial powers which were for a long time able to trade on a level footing with the Carthaginians and the Greeks. It is nevertheless surprising to note that, despite their respective importance, the Etruscans and the Romans did not mint their own coins until later.
With cries of “Tere Euro!”or “Hello Euro”, Estonia was given a hearty wecome into the European single currency club on 1 January 2011. With this move, Estonia became the seventeenth member country of the euro area. It was also the first Baltic state to meet the Maastricht criteria.
