A magical journey through the history of money, Banco do Brasil Cultural Center in Rio de Janeiro

In commemoration of 200 years of Banco do Brasil and from its own collection, the Gallery of Values ​​was set up in four rooms and is part of the exhibition “Banco do Brasil and its History” to offer the public a new exhibition wing at the Museum Banco do Brasil, on the 4th floor of the CCBB.

The Galeria de Valores takes a trip through everything that has been used in Brazil and in the world as money. The exhibition with around 2,000 pieces from the Banco do Brasil numismatic collection, features unusual materials that are still used as currency.

The exhibition presents, in a playful and dynamic way, 2,000 pieces from the Banco do Brasil numismatic collection, composed of about 38,000 pieces, and was formatted in order to create an interactive space that allows to tell the history of the currency, in Brazil and in the world, from its origin to the present day.

The exhibition space is divided into themes:
Rarities and Curiosities
The Gold Extraction Process
Timeline:
The History of Values ​​in Brazil;
The Secrets of the Notes;
From Currency to Credit Card

In addition to a room dedicated to Julius Meili, considered the father of Numismatics in Brazil.

The exhibition, which has a permanent character, presents the public with the history of money, from distant times when barter was practiced, to the present day, when money crosses continents in seconds powered by computer operations. The show brings together banknotes and coins from Banco do Brasil’s numismatic collection and opened the Galeria dos Valores, a new permanent exhibition space for the cultural center. “Money is one of the most important inventions that helped to create the history of modern man. The exchange tied the producers to their place of origin, the money made mobility and commerce possible “, says Denise Mattar, curator of the show that gathers around 2 thousand objects from a collection that has about 38 thousand items, being considered side of the collections of the National Historical Museum and the Central Bank of Brasilia, one of the most important sets of numismatic pieces in Brazil.

The Values ​​Gallery was created to present to the public one of the most important numismatic collections in Brazil. interactivity and has a multidisciplinary approach that covers areas such as art, history and economics.

The visitor is guided along a path (covered with shiny coins and excerpts of songs that talk about money) that leads to the “O Tesouro” room, where pieces are displayed that show the names, sizes, shapes, materials and iconography used throughout the ages.. The curious set, with specimens from different times, countries and continents, reveals the most varied names and formats of coins. Some are shaped like a canoe, hat, ring, knife, shovel, or made of unusual materials such as porcelain, leather and iron. There are also banknotes and coins reproducing the faces of artists like Portinari, portraits of tyrants like Nero and Sadam Hussein or personalities like Einstein, Freud, Marx and James Joyce. The friendly little pig Fidu, tells in a fun way “What is Money” in an animated film specially made for the Galeria de Valores,

Banco do Brasil Cultural Center in Rio de Janeiro
The Centro Cultural Banco do Brazil Rio de Janeiro, briefly CCBB Rio de Janeiro or CCBB RJ, it is a cultural center located in the district center, in Zona Central city of Rio de Janeiro. It is part of a network of cultural spaces, called Banco do Brasil Cultural Center, managed and maintained by Banco do Brasil.

The building occupied by CCBB RJ, located at n ° 66 of Rua Primeiro de Março, has a built area of 19,243 m², of which 15,046 m² are occupied by the center. Located on Orla Conde, in front of Largo da Candelária.

The building has the following spaces inside: exhibition rooms on the first and second floors; a cinema room with 110 seats on the ground floor; a room with 53 seats for showing videos on the mezzanine; three rooms for theater shows, one on the ground floor, with 175 seats, and two more on the second floor, one with 158 seats and one without fixed seats, for alternative shows; an auditorium with 90 seats on the fourth floor; and a library on the fifth floor.

According to research published by The Art Newspaper in April 2014, CCBB RJ was considered the 21st most visited art museum in the world, having a total of 2,034,397 visitors in 2013. According to the same website, the exhibition Picasso and Spanish modernity, held at the cultural center, was considered the most visited post-impressionist and modern exhibition in the world in 2015.