An experience to discover the main events that have characterized the history of money and finance in the world.
The exhibition conceived by Paco Lanciano and Giovanni Carrada is organized by the Bank of Italy in collaboration with the 'Palaexpo Special Company andDepartment of Culture of Rome Capital and it can be visited until April 28, 2024 at Palazzo Esposizioni in Rome.
The journey, divided into nine rooms, begins with the story of modern economic systems and continues with the representation of the birth and evolution of the main monetary and financial instruments and phenomena: from minted money to digital transactions, up to modern payment systems. The last three rooms talk about the growing importance of finance in everyday life, the benefits and risks linked to its evolution and the role of central banks in ensuring financial stability and consumer protection.
The exhibition itinerary offers a journey through time
A narrative voice accompanies the visitor through immersive projections, multimedia experiences, rare objects which, thanks to projections, animations and sound effects, come to life telling stories, anecdotes and
curiosities: from the minting of money to banknotes, up to the digital transactions that characterize i
modern payment systems, spanning a time span that goes from ancient Mesopotamia to ours
days. It thus turns out that talking about economics means talking about a very dense network of collaborations, which is hidden behind everything we use every day, and that this network can only function thanks to another network of relationships and connections that allows us to move over time and in space the resources necessary for its functioning: money and finance. Traveling through the history of finance you also have the opportunity to admire very rare objects, such as the terracotta tablets on which the ancient Sumerians wrote the first loan contracts; the Stater of Croesus (Lydia, 560 BC) which according to legend is the first coin minted in gold and silver, depicting the image of the lion clashing with the bull; an ancient and splendid edition of the Summa de arithmetica with which the Franciscan Luca Pacioli provided the merchants of his time, to manage increasingly complex commercial relationships, with the double-entry accounting that we still use today; the ledgers of the Banco di Santo Spirito, which certify the payments made to Gian Lorenzo Bernini for some of the most important works of the Roman Baroque.
The museum project and the exhibition that heralds it are part of the Bank of Italy's initiatives aimed at opening new channels of dialogue with citizens, to talk about topics often perceived as complex or distant from everyday life, to overcome disinterest and overcome prejudices, in the belief that financial knowledge is fundamental to participate in the economic life of the country, and that financial inclusion promotes social inclusion.
