Bank Of England Museum

A whimsical look on currency, counter fitting, and production processes. The caricature and cartoons are the best part.

On va mettre les choses au clair: un musée sur une banque, ce n’est pas très emballant comme programme. Même quand c’est gratuit.
Surtout que l’entrée se trouve dans une rue adjacente à la Bank of England et nous passons par une porte pas très accueillante…
C’est donc un peu en traînant des pieds que je suis entrée dans ce lieu.
Bien m’en a pris car c’était une belle visite !
Ce que j’ai particulièrement aimé: l’aspect ludique tout en restant sérieux.
Les enfants sont une (voire la) cible de ce musée donc les textes sont simples, pertinents t toujours illustrés.
Il y a pas mal de petites activités pour les (grands) enfants que sont les visiteurs et des anecdotes sont parsemées dans toutes les salles.
On apprend beaucoup de choses, que ce soit sur l’économie en général ou sur l’histoire de la monnaie britannique (et quelle Histoire !).
Attention, ce qui m’a le plus marqué: on peut toucher et soulever un lingot d’or !
N’étant pas très musclée, je n’ai pas réussi à soulever ces 13 kilos…
Petite note: Accès PMR et poussette partout !

I work near the Bank of England so have always been keen to visit the museum, usually it’s opening hours are when I’m in work but I finally managed to get in as part of the Open House weekend.
If you ever get a chance to go on a wider tour of the Bank it is worth doing from the statue of William III which is so heavy it can only be situated in a couple of places to a Roman mosaic found in the ground when the bank was rebuilt in the 1930s it is full of interesting stuff.
The Museum itself gives a good account of the history of the Bank along with the old money (I’m glad I wasn’t around when a £ was 240 pence) and various exhibits to show how the decisions made here influence the wider economy. The highlight is being able to pick up (under watchful eyes) a gold bulion bar worth £428,000 at today’s prices.

It started as quickly as it ended. When I walked in, I was greeted warmly by the people that check your bag, all smiles, good job! Then by the person at the info desk, she even offered me a map, so that made all the difference. By the looks of the map, it looked pretty big, so I was like, «Oh no… i hope i don’t spend hours here» No, you won’t you’ll spend like an hour. There’s interactive games throughout the museum, and I looked for the «no camera» sign after leaving the info desk. couldn’t find it, then saw it when I hit the middle of the museum, AFTER i took pics.omg. It was when I reached the GOLD bar that I saw it and was like «oopss». But you get to touch a real gold bar? How many times in your life will that happen? Then I saw many different types of gold bars, even the process in making it from the stamper… to the most commonly traded gold bars. I saw the ½ pence coin that I heard about from school, and how they stopped making that. And 1000 pound notes. And forged notes and all that jazz. It was quite cool. The museum is quite small but there’s so much to see, life size figures of Pitt and Fox.
Definitely good to take a look as you can see the currency from the past. And they sell quills at the gift shop!

So, it’s the height of summer, rainy outside, and I need somewhere to go with the kids to kill an hour or two before lunch. I would prefer someplace free, and easily accessible on the Central line. The Bank of England Museum seemed to fit the bill, and so we headed out, prepared to be somewhat amused, and somewhat bored.
Wrong on that last count! This museum is really great. When we arrived, I asked about activities for kids at the information desk, and they gave us 2 copies of a trail through the museum for 5 – 7 year olds. Perfect! (They also have trails for up to age 14.)
The children both enjoyed following the trail, and also doing some of the supplementary activities. They had a mocked-​up hot air balloon with a computerized game attached to teach kids about inflation. There was also a safe with little tokens inside. You answered the three questions (using information contained in the surrounding exhibits) to turn the safe knobs, and the safe would pop open so you could grab a token. The children liked seeing the old-​style pence (when there were 240 to a pound), florins, guineas, and hand-​written bank notes (I did, too). There was a cool exhibit on forgery, and a gold bar that you could touch, and try to lift (it weighs 28 pounds). The children also liked the exhibits on the history of money, and seeing an inking roll that is used to print £50 notes. At the end of the tour, they turned in their tokens, and each received a pin, which thrilled them to no end. Educational + fun = winning museum, in my book. I really recommend this, particularly to families.

Really really interesting museum on the history of the Central bank, the gold standard and currency, and monetary policy in England. I know, don’t roll your eyes. It is not for everyone. You actually may learn something. There are interactive activities for those who don’t like to read. Sort of off the beaten path and probably not a tourist must-​see, but it is definitely worth the time and effort. Get off at Bank stop. It’s free and I mention that it is really really interesting? From here you can pop over to the Leadenhall market for drinks and a bite to eat, only about 5 minutes walk.

The museum tells the story of the Bank through documents, silver, paintings, banknotes, coins and photos. If you’re interested in the Bank’s history and how it came to take on its pivotal role in the economy, this is the place for you. If not you’ll still find some interesting artefacts here and the building is impressive, so worth a whizz round. Admission is free.
The a display of gold was a highlight for me, particularly the ingot you can pick up — probably the only time I’ll hold that much wealth in my hand.

Le musée de la monnaie londonien
On y trouve tout ce qu’il faut savoir sur la Bank d’Angleterre ainsi que sur la monnaie à travers les époques. On y explique même l’offre et la demande sur la politique monétaire internationale, je me serais cru en terminale. J’ai adoré ! Gratuit.