Today I want to share a view I took a few months ago, when we were still in Summer. On a weekend when I'd gone to lunch with some friends in Lisbon, and since I hadn't taken the car, I wasn't stressed about paying the meter, so there was no pressure to finish the weekend outing.
This museum tells us about the creation, history and evolution of money throughout its existence. Although I didn't see any reference to cryptocurrencies, probably because this museum was founded by the Bank of Portugal... Ahahahah
It is currently located on the premises of the Church of São Julião, which has not been active in religious worship for a long time.
Welcome to the Money Museum! Would you like to join me? Well then, let's go inside...
Entrance of the Museum
Entrance Main Hall
Detail of the ceiling, I think it's easy to see the architectural roots of this building
The ceiling height of this entrance hall is something magnificent
My friends who accompanied me to discover this museum in the center of Lisbon
My incessant search for vanishing points and symmetry
The former vault of the Bank of Portugal, which now serves as a display element and is also used to protect a real bar of GOLD!
An impressive detail: a bar of practically 99.9% pure gold weighing 12.6 kg. This bar can be touched by visitors!!!
A silver coin from the time of Dona Maria I
The evolution of coins since the time of Ancient Rome
A brief description of the Portuguese monetary system, its foundation and its aegis
The value of money compared to the manual labor of the time... notice the almost unstoppable evolution, and the devaluation of the daily wage of the workers
A small ornate vase was also included in this exhibition. Although ornamental pieces were often not very important financially, this was not the case with these ceremonial bowls
One of the first credit notes. In complicated financial times, when printing money/franchise should not be done, treasury bills were launched, which would be worth what was described on them, guaranteeing the holder full ownership and commercial value of this document signed by the government
A Cantonese version
Tiles, which have always been important in Portuguese culture, were first introduced by the Arabic peoples and initially spread further south along the River Tagus
Currencies of several countries
I remember this note very well! I still have one at home!
Let's go up a level
Many of you know these banknotes very well, since they were introduced into circulation on January 1, 2002
The various versions and updates that the euro banknotes have had over more than twenty years
Many of the banknotes that are withdrawn from circulation and replaced are because they no longer have the value or the ability to appear to have all the security features, such as this 50€ note which has been burned by more than 50%
As you can see, in the latest update of the euro banknotes, the 500€ note is no longer printed.
This is due to its value. It greatly facilitated illegal money laundering schemes, allowing large amounts of cash to be transported in a small amount of space and weight
Another set of banknotes from "my time"... how I miss them
Just like coins... Who would have thought that the coin with the highest value in circulation in Portugal in December 2001 was the 200 escudos, which is equivalent to a one euro coin?
Some more Portuguese banknotes... One day I'll have to publish a list of the banknotes I have stored here at home and which were passed down to me by my father
Notes for all tastes and wallets, from shades of brown to traditional blues and greens
a few more notes from Portugal's former colonies and provinces
One of the most valuable banknotes from the year 1980 (if I'm not mistaken...)
I haven't checked, I'm just relying on my memory, which isn't a very good idea! Ahahah
Old signs that were placed at the entrance to the Bank of Portugal, distinguishing the two services provided. The sign on the left "Commercial Service" and the one on the right "Treasury Service"
I honestly don't know very well what this machine did, I just know that it was used to print currency at the beginning and middle of the last century
How many of you have seen the Spanish series "La casa de papel"? I had a mega flashback when I saw this modern printing press, which is still used to print the 5€ notes, for example, at the Portuguese Mint
A very nice stack, but I'd rather see one for 500€ notes! Ahahah
The main elements present in the materials used to produce today's banknotes
a chest with the coat of arms of the Portuguese royal house. It goes without saying who would have carried this beautifully decorated piece. Carried very frequently, and more so on sea expeditions made before 1500, it would be transported with the most valuable goods of the reign, in exchange for others of greater value.... Even used for human trafficking... a.k.a. "buying" slaves
One of Portugal's biggest fraudsters. No one has heard of Alves dos Reis. The story goes that the counterfeit banknotes were of such good quality that many of them were taken as genuine, compared to the "originals"! And he didn't stop at counterfeiting money. Art and credit notes were also part of his artistic portfolio
An ornamental piece found in the excavations carried out in this church, during the restructurings carried out for the Money Museum
An impressive shield probably from pre-Roman times
An extremely valuable piece. Look at the detail of each carving in the wood, from the earpiece to the case itself. A true work of art
When it was time to say goodbye, my friend decided to play around with the sign a bit, because what it says doesn't make much sense. It says "See money again as you've never seen it"
I hope you enjoyed my sharing!
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this post.
Lisbon, Portugal
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