Housed inside the Central Bank building, the Bank Negara Money Museum serves to house Malaysia’s numismatic heritage. Bank Negara Malaysia started issuing its own currency back in 1967 and only started purchasing coins in 1979 when it realized the potential of setting up its very own Money Museum.

Bank Negara’s plan to have an authoritative depository for Malaysia’s numismatic collection was realized with the opening of the Bank Negara Money Museum on 5 ^th April 1989. In conjunction with the 30 ^th anniversary of Bank Negara Malaysia, it was ceremonially opened by Datin Seri Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamed Ali, wife of former Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The main objective of the Money Museum is to educate all locals and even foreigners on the evolution of Malaysian currency. The public exhibitions show money collections in the nation from early times to modern society. The information is easily disseminated through its money exhibitions of coins, currency notes, tokens and other artifacts; detailed explanations are available in publications that are purchasable from the Museum Shop.

One of the numismatic collections is “early money”; 7 of these are smelted into different unique shapes:

• Animal Money is made out of tin and shaped like a cockerel;
• the Brass Kettle dates from the 1800s and is made from brass;
• Shell-backed Ingot is made out of tin and is tortoise-shell shaped;
• Tampang dates from the 1400s and is made out of tin and has a denomination of one-cent;
• the Small Tampang comes from the year 1847 and is made out of tin and is equivalent to 1/100 cent;
• Private Issue Ampang dates from the 1860s and is denominated at one cent and Chinese characters are imprinted on tin.
• The last of these 7 is the Duit Ayam Kedah; dated from 1710, it is also cockerel shaped.
• Other early forms of money include Malay Sultanate Coins, Colonial Money, Private Tokens & Currencies, Post-Colonial Money, Malaysian Currency Notes & Coins, Malaysian Commemorative Issues and World Currencies & Commemorative Issues.

The Bank Negara Money Museum regularly receives many visitors each year, including school children; hence the Kids’ Corner is appropriately educational. The Kids’ Corner includes online quizzes whose answers can be figured out only after completing a tour of the Money Museum. There are also question & answer sessions that inform the younger ones what money really is, the history of money and appreciating the monetary value.

Before leaving the Money Museum, drop in at the Museum Shop where you can get publications that detail more of the museum’s primary depository. Among the literature available are Buku Wang Saku – a basic financial planning foundation for students, and Warna dan Rupa, a book specializing on Bank Negara’s modern art collection by local artists.

The Bank Negara Money Museum is open from 9am to 430pm on Mondays to Fridays and on Saturdays from 9am to 12pm. The museum is closed on Sundays and public holidays. Admission is free for all.