Money
The Money Gallery, a joint project with the British Museum, looks at the different forms of money from the West and East. There are about 850 coins are on display and you can also discover some of the ways people traded before money was used.
The display begins by looking at value systems before money. In certain parts of the world, traditional forms of currency continued to function until the end of the 19th century.
The main display looks at 3 broad periods: 2500BC-(AD) 600, 600-1700, and 1700-present day.
Early cuneiform tablets of the date from the 3rd millennium BC and record transactions in precious metal. Coins were invented in the late 7th century BC, which began a rich and continuous 2600-year heritage. The display then shows how credit/debit cards have begun to replace the paper money and coins.
The display ties in key moments in history. Money can be used to trace the movements of people and ideas that have formed much of our modern world. The artifacts and coins are accompanied by maps and a frieze, showing key trade routes.
Manchester's rich social and economic history is shown in the display. Medallions and tokens provide twinges of nostalgia for older Mancunians and are often used in school projects.
The central cases have 2 themes: technology and treasure. Treasure shows the different processes used to make coins over the centuries. Technology looks at electronic banking.
Look for the moulds for casting the earliest money, iron dies used to make the hammered coins of the medieval world, and modern dies for striking the £1 coin. Coins from some of the important finds from the Manchester area are on display including spectacular medieval gold pieces from the 15th century Fishpool Hoard.
Some highlights of the Gallery are a Mesopotamian duck weight (3rd-2nd millennium BC), gold and silver 4th century Roman medallions, 10th century silver pennies of Edward the Elder showing an Anglo-Saxon tower and the manus dei (hand of God), a gold double dinar of Genghis Khan, and a Bank of England £200 banknote dated 1699.
Information sheets are available on the following topics: coin forgery; metals, weighing and value; propaganda on coins; and numbers, counting and arithmetic.