The Museum on the Mound is a museum in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, Scotland, that focuses on
money
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...
,
coin
A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...
age and
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
. It is located in the
Bank of Scotland Head Office building (latterly part of
HBOS and now part of
Lloyds Banking Group) on
The Mound. It has more than 50,000 visitors per year.
History
The Bank of Scotland Head Office building is a large
Baroque Revival
The Baroque Revival, also known as Neo-Baroque (or Second Empire architecture in France and Wilhelminism in Germany), was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe architecture and architectural sculptur ...
building topped with a
dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
which sits at the top of The Mound. The original building was designed in the Palladian style by
Richard Crichton
Richard Crichton (died 1817) was a Scottish architect operating in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was described as "competent and versatile".
Life
He was born around 1771, the son of James Crichton (d.1797) an Edinburgh mason.
...
and
Robert Reid and erected 1801–6, later altered by
David Bryce in 1863 and by
Peddie and
Kinnear in 1878. Because of its location on a steep slope, it has an extensive basement area, part of which now houses the Museum on the Mound.
Prior to 2006, a small museum display existed in a single basement room, but entry was by appointment only. This museum was originally opened in 1986 by the author
Ian Rankin.
The Museum on the Mound opened in September 2006.
In 2017, Lloyds Banking Group announced that the Museum on the Mound would close at the end of that year.
[ Following a public outcry, the decision was reversed and the museum will now remain open.
]
Exhibits
The permanent collection includes artefacts tracing the history of the Bank of Scotland since its foundation in 1695, paintings and architectural models of the Head Office building on the Mound, and the history of banking and building societies in Britain. There are also exhibits related to the history of numismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects.
Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...
, including artefacts historically used for barter, ancient tokens dating back as early as the early 12th century, Scottish coinage
From until 1709 the coinage of Scotland was unique, and minted locally. A wide variety of coins, such as the plack, bodle, bawbee, dollar and ryal were produced over that time. For trading purposes coins of Northumbria and various other places ha ...
and paper money. Because the Bank of Scotland has a history of issuing its own banknote
A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand.
Banknotes w ...
s — a right it has retained to this day — the collection includes a number of historic Scottish banknotes. There is also a Bank of England £1 million note displayed as an example of the high-denomination notes used to back banknotes issued by Scottish banks.George Pinckard
George Pinckard M.D. (1768–1835) was an English physician, known as an author, an abolitionist, and in the field of insurance.
Life
The son of Henry Pinckard of Handley Hall, Northamptonshire, he was tutored by a clerical relative, studied med ...
founder and first chairman of Clerical Medical
See also
*List of museums in Scotland
This list of museums in Scotland contains museums which are defined for this context as institutions (including nonprofit organisations, government entities, and private businesses) that collect and care for objects of cultural, artistic, scienti ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mound, Museum on the
Museums in Edinburgh
Economy of Scotland
Museums of economics
Lloyds Banking Group
2006 establishments in Scotland
Museums established in 2006
Banking in Scotland
Coins of Scotland
Numismatic museums in the United Kingdom
1987 establishments in Scotland
Museums established in 1987