More than a penny for his thoughts

Working at Canada’s History Society, I’ve met my fair share of history professionals. But until I started to write this article it hadn’t really dawned on me that the best storytellers I know are museum curators. Most recently, I got to talk with Paul Berry, chief curator at the Currency Museum of the Bank of Canada in Ottawa.

His exhibit Broken Coins and Paper Promises largely drew upon the findings of the Ferryland archaeological dig in Newfoundland. Ferryland was a colony settled by twelve people in 1621, and it was the hub of the transatlantic cod fishing industry during the 1600s.

Up until the financial crisis that erupted in the fall of 2008, most people probably gave little thought to the nature of banks and the role that these institutions play in our lives. Broken Coins and Paper Promises proved to be timely in that regard as it explored the possible outcomes for a society if there was no central financial authority like the Bank of Canada. How does a community decide how many codfish are worth a bushel of hay? Who do you turn to when you try to cash in the piece of paper that says it is worth an amount of gold or silver and there is no gold or silver to be had?

Paul’s enthusiasm was infectious as he told me that when a society has no dependable supply of currency they need to turn to what’s readily at hand. Their choices can tell you a lot about them and the environment they were living in. Any object can be a medium of exchange: shells, glass beads, cacao beans, paper, and metal. Even teeth have a value prized by more merchants than just the tooth fairy.

The artifacts found at Ferryland came from as far away as Africa, Asia, and South America. Their presence tells us that global trade routes were in effect, that people were travelling long distances, leaving the community and culture they knew in order to engage in commerce. If weather or geographical challenges prevented the flow of government-issued currency arriving in the colonies, then colonists were left to their own devices.

Paul’s personal journey as a currency aficionado began at the age of six. He was visiting with his English grandmother one afternoon, and at one point she gave him a 1911 British halfpenny coin she had lying around. He was fascinated by it, as it was the first coin he ever saw that didn’t have a picture of Queen Elizabeth II on it. This one had a male portrait (King George V) and on the other side it showed a woman with a trident and shield. The coin was bent and corroded, not shiny like most new coins.

When his mom came to take him home he showed her the neat coin his grandmother had given him and she said, “Well, if you like this, you should check out the bottoms of all my purses.” (Mom had a lot of purses.)

He scoured through every purse in every closet, discovering coins from all over the world. Even coins from South Africa from when her father fought in the Boer War. “She and my dad had driven across Canada after World War II, which had allowed her to amass a number of different kinds of coins.”

Once the family knew about his love of coins, they started giving him their unusual bits. “That’s the thing about money,” explains Paul. “Most people have some form of money squirreled away in the recesses of drawers and attics because people don’t throw away money, even if it’s considered worthless.”

From then on he learned as much as he could from people who knew more about currency, could explain the legends and features of the coins he had, and tell him stories about their relevance during the time periods they were produced. Paul was hooked.

With such a strong love for the stories behind the coins, it’s not surprising that Paul is also the kind of person who, at the end of the work day as a museum curator, donates his spare time to other history and numismatic associations in order to share and educate other avid collectors of coins, tokens, and paper currency.

“I already feel blessed that I’m paid to pursue my hobby,” he professes. “So, I enjoy talking to others. Because coins themselves are forms of communication, they open a window into another world that allows you to learn about various cultures and people, the different times they lived in, and the obstacles they had to overcome.”

As for me, I think it’s time I take a closer look at that jar of pennies I stashed in my cupboard.