Manila Money Museum (Permanently Closed)

Housed within the premises of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex in Manila, Money Museum is a literal treasure trove of ancient coins, bills, banknotes Barter exchanges, etc.

Owned and operated by the Central Bank of the Philippines, or Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the museum was founded on the 3rd of January, 1999 as part of the celebration of 50 years of central banking in the Philippines; it has remained a favourite tourist hotspot of the city ever since. It basically traces the history of the Philippine’s economy especially in terms of the literal currency bills from the primitive means to the contemporary banknotes. Among the top highlighted relics of the repository include the fashionable barter shells, stunning gold pebbles also known as piloncitos, gorgeous gold barter rings, vintage circus-designed paper money, envelope-sized banknotes, and also the silver dos mundos which are considered to be the most notable and rarest coins amongst the collectibles. The museo collection is divided into several galleries which is thronged not just by the numismatists or the history buffs, but also by regular tourists. These sections are - Pre-Hispanic Period, Spanish Period, Colonial Period, Revolutionary Period, the American Regime, Japanese Occupation, and the present Republican Period.