Money Museum Opens in Budapest

The Money Museum of the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) will open an interactive exhibition in the newly renovated Postapalota (‘Postal Palace’) from March 16, with a special focus on young people, the Hungarian state news agency MTI reports.

The interactive exhibition on the history of money and the operation and future of money management is equipped with the latest museum educational and digital technologies. The 2,400-square-meter exhibition features more than 200 displays and projectors, 54 unique installations, hundreds of square meters of physical graphics and 133 short films to introduce the world of money to all age groups, with a special focus on 12-18-year-olds.

The institution will also function as an experience and education center, as the MNB's tasks include developing financial culture and financial awareness.

At the ‘Gold Mine’ next to the cloakroom, visitors can pick up cards, which they can use to collect tokens during their tour of the Money Museum and redeem them for gifts at the end of the exhibition.

The exhibition explores the five basic functions of money – store of value, circulation, payment, world money and treasure – in an entertaining way.

Visitors can learn about the reasons for and forms of money, try out what it would be like if there were no money, and see the most precious items in the MNB's coin collection, from the Lancea regis denarius of the country’s first king, St. Stephen, to paper money.

Several games, UV chambers and installations will show the history and security features of banknotes, and visitors will also be able to design and print their own paper money.

Visitors can also try their hand at being a banker, send messages by banker's tube and learn about the history of the MNB.

A stock exchange simulator, a world money wall and a machine simulating online shopping will give people an insight into the world of money and the world market, the exhibition will also show what the money of the future could look like, and then, in addition to the treasure-building function, it will also present intellectual assets, great Hungarian innovations and achievements.

A special section recalls the history of the MNB's gold train in 1945 and the heroic central bank staff who saved the country's gold reserves. ‘Scooting’, a 13-meter-long sculpture by Miklós Gábor Szőke depicts, according to the sculptor, the locomotive as a symbol of progress, made of 13 tons of stainless steel, forming more than 7,000 golden blocks.