Eagleton abstract 2007

Collecting the contemporary: modern money and modern museums: Catherine Eagleton, British Museum, London

Money museums have traditionally collected objects like coins, tokens, and paper money. However, in some countries spending money increasingly involves cashless transactions, and the ways people use money is changing fast. At the same time, our consumer societies produce an almost bewildering number and range of objects that could find homes in museum collection. What, then, should money museums be collecting in order to represent our contemporary world, now and in the future? What collecting policies should money museums put in place to make sure that the right selection of material is made, for future study, display, and educational projects? This paper will examine these questions, using examples from the British Museum's modern money collection, with the aim of stimulating discussion and debate.

"back to Vienna programme":http://www.icomon.org.uk/meetings/31/vienna-programme