Catching up: Reserve Bank Museum

Just a couple of months ago, the Museum of Trade, Finance, and the Fed opened at the local federal reserve bank branch. Once I had free time during the operating hours (Monday through Friday, 9:00 to 4:00) I checked it out. A couple of observations: 1) the security is extreme because the Museum is in the lobby of the federal reserve bank; 2) the lobby is not very big; and 3) the Museum probably does not warrant the name "Museum." It is very youth-oriented, with five small displays about the history of trade and money and examples of old coinage, paper money, and bank notes. It is informative if you don't know much about the history of the national banking system (I learned a few things), but only at a thirty-thousand-feet level. That being said, it could be good for a particularly nerdy group of kids: they might enjoy the hidden messages in the informative displays that can only be seen with red-tinted glasses, and the interactive exhibit in which you can design a dollar bill and put your face on it. So, takeaway: not really a museum and in a weird place, but free and a little bit interesting for the youngsters.