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SINGAPORE : With the recent opening of the Singapore Coins and Notes Museum, visitors will see why it's a whole lot more than just about dollars and cents.
Metal pieces were crucial to barter traders in pre-Independence Singapore.
Venture further, and you will realise that not all coins are round.
It is also here where visitors will be able to walk through time as depicted on Singapore's various notes and view limited edition coins made for the republic and neighbouring countries.
From metal to plastic, museum visitors can see how Singapore society has embraced stored-value cards for transport and other cash transactions - with the latest CEPAS-compliant ones which can be personalised.
"We intend to work with the hospitals and the car dealers to personalise all these Ez-Link cards and the CEPAS to provide individuals with a personalised photograph on the pass itself so that they can also inscribe on the card information that is actually critical for someone... like old folks who suffer from illness like dementia and that they might get lost," said Yip Pak Ling, senior VP and director of the Singapore Mint.
Aimed at tourists and students, the museum also aims to generate awareness about coin collection.
"Coin collection is not a single generation business. The value actually escalates typically after 40-50 years. So if you are hoping to make money by investing in coins as a collectible, you are not going to see significant increase in value over 10, 20 years. But if you can pass it on (to a second or third generation), the value escalates tremendously," said Yip.
The Singapore Coins and Notes Museum currently works with secondary currency dealers and some of the collections here are on loan from private collectors. - CNA /ls
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