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Money, coins, banking and the workings of the economy are the subject of the Economy Museum in Stockholm, called Ekonomiska museet, which is built upon the collections of the former Royal Coin Cabinet, among the oldest in the nation. The museum follows the story of money from the earliest means of exchange and the first struck coins through the development of banknotes, including the early Swedish paper money that ranked among the first issued in Europe, all the way to credit cards and the digital transactions of today, in a country that has gone further toward abolishing cash than almost any other. Its holdings are extraordinary, embracing coins, medals, banknotes and related objects covering more than two and a half millennia, including rare and significant items such as the cumbersome copper plate money, among the largest coins ever produced, that once circulated in Sweden. The displays set out to make the frequently abstract world of economics concrete and relevant, considering not only the physical forms of money but the underlying notions of value, trade, saving and debt on which society rests. Occupying the same building as the Swedish History Museum on Narvavagen, it provides an engaging and approachable window onto a subject that affects everyone every day. Sweden holds a distinctive place in the history of money, having been among the first European countries to issue paper banknotes, in the seventeenth century, and standing today among the nations nearest to doing away with cash entirely, a contrast the museum relishes exploring. Its collections, inherited from the venerable Royal Coin Cabinet, rank among the finest of their type and include the famous copper plate money, enormous rectangular sheets of metal once used as currency that are among the heaviest coins ever struck, together with ancient Greek and Roman coins, medieval hoards and rare banknotes. Beyond the objects, the museum grapples with the larger questions money poses, how value comes to be agreed, how trade, saving, lending and debt shape individuals and societies, and how economic choices touch everyone, presenting these often daunting themes in an accessible, interactive manner that engages families and the merely curious as readily as specialists. Its recent move into the same building as the Swedish History Museum on Narvavagen means the two can conveniently be seen on one visit. With its combination of glittering historic treasures and stimulating ideas, the Economy Museum throws light on a subject that quietly shapes the daily life of us all.
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