'The adventure of money. From gold to digital' is coming to the Galata Maritime Museum in Genoa

5 November 2026

From 11 November 2026 to 16 January 2027, MUDEM, Banca d'Italia's Money Museum will be starring in Genoa with its exhibition entitled "The Adventure of Money. From gold to digital" being hosted at the Galata Maritime Museum. The initiative is part of the travelling project promoted by Banca d'Italia to spread financial education through a dialogue between history, culture and the economy.

The exhibition takes you on a journey through the main stages of the evolution of money and payment instruments, from the first forms of credit in ancient Mesopotamia to the prospect of a digital euro. Numismatic records, historical documents, multimedia content and informative installations help visitors to learn about the role that money, trust and economic exchanges have played in the development of human societies.

The exhibition presents a selection of items from Banca d'Italia's collections and has four thematic sections dedicated to the birth of finance and money, the growth of financial instruments in the Middle Ages and the industrial age, the role of central banks and the challenges posed by technological innovation in payments.

Financial education workshops for schools and adults will be organized alongside the exhibition. The activities will look at issues such as the mechanisms that influence economic and financial decisions, cognitive biases and the evolution of payment systems.

This initiative will also include a new edition of the 'Everlasting Exchange' cycle, with three public meetings dedicated to the issue of trust in economic exchanges seen from different perspectives: the history of trade and maritime finance, the cybersecurity of the infrastructures supporting digital payments, and the importance of statistics in understanding our economic and financial reality.

After the events in Rome and Naples, the project now continues in Genoa and will then go to Reggio Calabria and Bologna, confirming Banca d'Italia's commitment to promoting economic and financial culture throughout Italy.