Currency: The almighty buck comes in many forms

By Ilona Biro

OTTAWA'S CURRENCY MUSEUM

Published in The Globe and Mail,

OTTAWA - What do salt blocks, tea bricks and sharks' teeth have in common? They've all been used as money at one time or another, and they're all on display at one of Ottawa's most fascinating museums.

Housed in the old Bank of Canada building, the Museum of Currency is no dusty collection of coins and notes. Though coin collectors gather here to admire rare coins and notes in Gallery No. 8, the rest of the museum devotes itself to topics like the 19th century Canadian flair for counterfeiting, the evolution of coinage, and other bits of currency lore.

Kids will enjoy the new Discovery Room where they can play games and puzzles all related to the theme of money. And older patrons can assess the value of their childhood coin collections, or marvel at the strange-looking objects that passed for lucre in the old days.

While coins were being minted by the Roman Empire and the Greek city states, the rest of the world used objects that were rare, or had intrinsic value of their own. The Mongolians used tea bricks as a form of currency right up to the 1950s, while the Romans preferred blocks of salt, called salaria. If a Roman soldier took the wrong road home, he could buy food or lodging by breaking off a piece of his block - in effect spending his salary.

Cowrie shells became one of the most widely-traded currencies of their time, functioning as a kind of early American Express. They first gained value as trading objects in the Maldives, but eventually, sailors didn't leave home without them. Cowries made their way to Europe, Africa, Asia and finally reached Canada where they were used throughout the 17th century.

In early America, where metal was a scarce commodity, nails were used as currency, and shells strung into belts by native Americans became known as wampum. But as colonies grew, and European nations expanded into empires, life became more and more a series of complex transactions. There was a need for a dependable currency, sanctioned by governments. Soon, regents were falling in love with their own images stamped on the sides of little metal discs. Coins had become a part of European life.

The museum has some beautiful early examples of coins featuring Cleopatra and Alexander the Great, and an ornate coin minted by the city-state of Athens, showing its owl symbol on one side. Because of the size of the Roman Empire, their coins were both smaller and simpler than those of the Greeks, and were used as a way of circulating propaganda. One Roman coin shows an elephant (representing Rome) standing triumphantly over a dragon (representing the Gauls). To a Roman, far-flung in the hinterland of the empire, that coin was like a banner headline trumpeting yet another Roman victory.

The scarcity of currency in New France created problems which were resolved in 1685 by the creation of playing card money. Borne of necessity to pay the soldiers, stock the garrisons, and otherwise keep the peace, the money was made by cutting actual playing cards into quarters which were then signed by the governor and intendant. Even though it started as a stop-gap measure, playing card money was still circulating 70 years later. By that time, one could find a hodge podge of Portuguese, Spanish and Mexican money in use in the French and British colonies, along with French gold and silver louis, livres, crowns, francs, sols, liards and deniers.

This clutter of foreign currencies caused problems of conversion, so private banks, merchants, provinces and even railways produced their own versions of money, adding to the confusion. This period produced endless examples of odd denominations like one dollar and twenty-five cent notes and dozens of "ghost" or "phantom" banks, who printed their money in the States and floated it in Canada. In 1854, the Hudson's Bay Company issued a metallic token called a "Made-Beaver" which continued in use until 1910, while various brewers and stores introduced their tokens as a way of making change, which was always scarce.

The twentieth century has its own interesting tales, like the dollar bills which were withdrawn because of a devil's head which appeared in the Queen's hair. Or the bills printed for the coronation of Edward the VI, with each denomination featuring a different member of the royal family - including the teenage Princesses Margaret and Elizabeth.

Ottawa's Museum of Currency is a real Canadian gem in a city full of interesting places. A great place to spend a few hours of that rare modern commodity - free time.