Museum of American Finance is where it supposed to be - on Wall Street, in the former building of the Bank of New York. He is relatively young (founded in 1988), but its exhibits illustrate the great dramatic story full of the most powerful of the world financial system.

Creator of the US financial system is considered to be one of the founding fathers of the republic Alexander Hamilton .  Illegitimate child born in the backwoods of the island of Nevis in the Caribbean, showed such ability, the rich plantation owners sent him to Boston .  There Hamilton volunteered for the army and the rebel colonies showed great personal courage .  Brilliant officer became assistant commander in chief, George Washington, and after the war - Congressman .  He had a chance to solve the problems associated with non-payment of promised salary soldiers and officers - is threatened riots .  In 1789, President Washington appointed Hamilton Finance Minister .  That Hamilton established the first National Bank and the US Mint .  The great statesman was killed in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr in 1804 .  One of the exhibits of the museum tells about the life and work of this key character of American history .

Own money America began producing during the war for independence - earlier in the colonies paid the British pound and the Spanish silver real, which are dollar-denominated. When in 1794 the US government began to mint its own coins, the new name did not come up with it. The museum has the most money of different eras, including beaver pelts, which were paid American Indians, a huge gold bar, worth today around two million dollars, treasuries, personally signed by George Washington.

Until 1861, the US had no unified system of bills, paid either in specie or Cheque. The impetus for the production of modern banknotes became the Civil War. Congress decided the colossal issue of money, the firm-contractor for painting of bills was found green paint - so the paper dollar bought green.

The museum collection consists of more than ten thousand exhibits - banknotes and coins, checks, bonds, stocks, rare historical documents and artifacts related to the circulation of money. Here you can see the documents signed by Sir Isaac Newton's famous South Sea Company, whose collapse in the XVIII century gave birth to the European financial panic, this ticker machine that sent a message on the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and a check signed by John D. Rockefeller.