“Currency and Transactions. From Yesterday to Nowadays” Travelling Museum Kit

The “Currency and Transactions. From Yesterday to Nowadays” travelling museum kit is an Alpha Bank Numismatic Collection educational programme that has been approved by the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs. Through targeted educational activities, we give students the chance to get an insight into the history of transactions in Greece, from antiquity to the present day. 

We send the travelling museum kit to schools in Greece and abroad throughout the school year. 

A journey through time 

The “Currency and Transactions. From Yesterday to Nowadays” travelling museum kit covers 6 historical periods: Greek Antiquity, Roman Period, Byzantine Era, Ottoman Period, Modern Greek State and present-day Greece. 

The main learning objective is for students to become familiar with the history of currency and the development of transactions in Greece from antiquity to the present.  

This is intended as the students’ first contact with economic literacy and an opportunity for them to grasp modern concepts on economy and the management of finances.  

The development of coinage

A wealth of material inside the kit provides students with important information on the appearance and development of coins, as they: 

• See coins and transactions as they change over several historical periods.  
• Discover when coins were first issued and when plastic money appeared. 
• Learn more on the euro and the common currency’s security features. 

At the same time, they get to discuss the advantages and shortcomings of modern transaction methods. 

Experiential learning 

The useful information provided by the programme is complemented with a range of stimuli encouraging students to further develop their thinking skills and imagination. Students get to:  

• Hold in their hands exact replicas of the strongest currency from each historical period. 
• Know about 13 fictional characters and historical figures from Greek mythology, and ancient and modern Greek history. 
• Become familiar with coin- and currency-related expressions that are still in use today.  
• Grow their imagination through digital games focusing on transaction history and methods.  

Instructions for teachers 

These describe the contents and explain how to run the programme and recommended activities. 

Printed informative material 

• The book Currency and Transactions. From Yesterday to Nowadays. This is the main reference material for the programme and remains at the school as a donated item.  
• Folding time-line poster. It showcases transaction methods per historical era and remains at the school as a donated item.  
• Bi-fold poster. The poster lists several products and their prices through time based on historical testimonies.  
• The leaflet Observing a Banknote. This handy resource presents the main identifiers of a banknote. The now obsolete 5,000-drachma note and the current 10-euro note are used as examples.  

Interactive material 

• 12 Find the Word cards. In this card-based game, students fill in the missing words in expressions or sayings about coins and transactions.  
• 13 coin and bio cards. These cards have information on both sides. One side depicts coin types with figures from Greek mythology to modern Greek history. The other side has a short bio for the figure depicted.  
• 6 coin replicas. The students get to hold in their hands 6 exact replicas of original ancient coins included in the Alpha Bank Numismatic Collection.  
• 1 USB flash drive. The drive contains the programme presentation and 2 digital games: Quiz and Transactions. 

Activity assessment material 

A questionnaire for you to let us know what you thought of our travelling museum kit. To be completed by the teacher who carried out the programme activities.

To join the programme and have the travelling museum kit delivered to your school, fill in and send the online application form.  

We will then contact you to make delivery arrangements. The travelling museum kit will come to you free of charge, as we cover all delivery costs. 

We will deliver it directly to your school. The kit weighs approximately 2 kg and its dimensions are 43X27X17 cm. 

If more than 1 classes in your school are interested in participating in the activities and there is a considerable number of students to include, you may receive 2 travelling museum kits, depending on availability.