Greg S.
Yelp
This is a great place to visit, especially with children. The museum isn't very big, you can pretty much see all the exhibits in an hour or so, which means that the short attention spans of children won't be an issue. One wall is devoted to a comprehensive display of the coins that have been issued in the USA, along with the President who held office at the time, tying history and coins together. There are interactive exhibits on the floor, which were okay, nothing great. One wall has a class case with $40,000,000.00 in $100 bills stacked up, it gives you some idea of how bulky money is. There is a separate area with viewing windows, where you can watch the employees as they process bills coming in from banks. Incoming stacks of money are racked in a tray leading into a large machine, which examines each bill looking for the condition as well as its authenticity. Worn bills are shredded, suspected counterfeit bills are set aside for further examination by a human. Bills that pass are then counted into bundles and put on pallets of 640,000 bills each. If they were $1 bills, it would be $640,000/pallet, $20 bills would be $32 Million/pallet. Automated fork-lifts come by, delivering/retrieving these pallets and put them into the main vault.
There is no fee for entering, although you have to go through a security check similar to what you might have with the TSA. Adults, bring photo ID; your driver's license or passport. IPod's can be checked to for an interactive experience. There are various publications that can be obtained that are free as well. Plus, you can get a small package of shredded money to take with you, once again it is free.
The whole thing is designed to teach a bit about what goes on behind the scenes as money flows from the Federal Reserve to the various member banks, goes into the economy, and then comes back to the reserve for re-issue. It also explains the role that the Fed has in insuring liquidity of banks as they process transactions, ensuring that funds are available to back their transactions. Easy enough for children to get a basic understanding, in-depth enough to help adults understand what happens with their money once they put it in a bank.
Their hours are a little limiting, 9:30-4 weekdays only, closed federal holidays.