The RBI Museum

Ever wondered what the ancient people used as a medium of exchange before the introduction of paper currency? The answer is food grains, salt, replicas of tools, cowries, and giant donut shaped stones were used to exchange things. Sounds fascinating right? The RBI Museum in Kolkata will answer all of these questions and even more through a display of fun and informative exhibits.

About the Museum

Get immersed in a one-of-a-kind experience and take a journey to the economic transition of India where money and its role in the economy is being explained through fun and interactive exhibits. The Reserve Bank of India Museum located in Kolkata is a place of heritage and knowledge established by the RBI on 11th March 2019 and aims at bringing together information, history, innovation, and fun. The museum demystifies the world of money, gold, the RBI, and the Indian Financial System through communicative tools, valuable credentials, pictures, and artifacts.

The museum illustrates how money has progressed from the ancient times, how and why gold is still so significant in the society, and about the genesis of RBI. It also has in display a 7-feet ‘Yap’ Stone, a collaborative exhibit on gold mining, a 12-feet high sculpture and other exhibits that are brought to life through interactive displays, games, sculptures, and videos.

Story of Money

The ‘Story of Money’ section of the museum narrates the story from the barter system in the olden times to the modern-day digital money and tells the concept of money as we know it today. Articles such as Yap Stone, whale’s tooth, cigarettes, and salt used as money are displayed in the museum. Other fun and fascinating exhibits used as money such as bullets, boat-shaped money, money in the shape of a tiger’s tongue can also be seen.

Story of Gold

The ‘Story of Gold’ section of the museum takes you on a journey of gold from ‘Mine to Mine’ and tells us how gold helped the Indian economy to overcome the Balance of Payments crisis in 1991. India’s expedition from promising gold to raise money to becoming a lender to the IMF is all illustrated in the museum through displays and exhibitions. Also, try lifting the gold bar that weighs 12.5kg and weight yourself in gold.

Genesis of RBI

This section imparts information about the establishment of RBI and other facts related to it. Get answers to questions such as about the animal at the center of the Reserve Bank’s logo, story of the Humble Pie, and get to know about the tools the Reserve Bank uses for its functions such as note stitching and pinching machine, beam balance, shovels for removing coins, seals, and much more.

The reception area of the museum houses a registration deck along with a souvenir shop that sells memorabilia, many of which are made of shredded notes and must be bought to take back home. The museum in itself is a very colorful area with the walls decorated with shredded notes and pictures of India during different phases of medium of exchange which is a must-have experience for visitors of all age.