A Brief History of the MoneyMuseum and Sunflower Foundation Coin Collection
By Dr. Ursula Kampmann

PANTA RHEI - "everything flows." This quote from the work of the Greek philosopher Heraclitus perfectly encapsulates everything the MoneyMuseumstrives to be-always changing, never resting on the laurels of its past, and always remaining in the lead when it comes to the challenge of seekingout new forms of communication.

This is why the MoneyMuseum is selling another portion of its collection. The proceeds will go toward financing a brand new chapter of theMoneyMuseum: a multimedia presence on iTunes University.

A debut on the Internet
It all began with 500 coins privately amassed by Dr. Juerg Conzett. Leo Mildenberg oversaw the collection right until his death, which is one of thereasons for the outstanding quality of the Greek coinage, in particular.

But the owner of this collection traveled so often, he barely had a chance to hold the coins in his own hands-for Juerg Conzett, the Internetoffered a solution. He put his collection on the Net at moneymuseum.com (now found at http://sunflower.ch/en/moneymuseum/museum), both for himself and for anyone else who might beinterested in it. In April 1999, the MoneyMuseum went online, and interest did indeed prove great, since at the time, although perhaps hard toimagine today, it was the first institution to make a large volume of coin photos available on the Internet.

In 2014, the MoneyMuseum had 2,600 coins in its possession. In terms of numbers, it cannot compete with the large institutions, of course, butit's not the quantity of objects that interests Juerg Conzett.

Instead, the aim of his MoneyMuseum is to make visitors think about money-about its history, but also about its future. For this reason, there areno conventional or traditional types of coin exhibits. The focus here is on the issues and questions raised by our past. An exhibit about gamblingmay well finish with a station where visitors have to vote on whether gambling on the stock market can in fact be considered "gambling." And theexhibition installed for 2015 is dedicated to the question of how the denarius made world history. Every visitor will vote on what role money playsin decisions on war and peace-not only in Republican Rome, but also in the United States and the European Union.

The Sunflower Foundation
Since June 1999, the Sunflower Foundation-also started by Dr. Juerg Conzett-has been responsible for presenting the MoneyMuseum's collection. But thefounder and current head of the MoneyMuseum actually comes from a completely different background than what you might expect. He completed his degreein history and psychology at the University of Zurich in 1972, and then went on to graduate from the prestigious School of Management at StanfordUniversity. He worked as a financial analyst in New York, Tokyo, and Zurich. His constant dealings with money piqued his curiosity as to therelationship between man and money-to what extent has money influenced our history? And to what extent does it continue to exert its influence today?And how should money look in the future in order to be able to bring about a better, more humane and just economy?

These questions are reflected in the objectives set by the Sunflower Foundation:
1) To present the history of Western money from its beginnings right through to the middle of the 20th century, using the latest techniques and asuperior quality coin collection illustrated through superb digital photographs.
2) To display alternatives to our society's currently accepted money model.
3) To promote an open and relaxed approach to the topic of money.

From a virtual to a real museum
The MoneyMuseum is a dynamic project that is constantly changing and evolving. Everything is temporary and in flux. And so, by the year 2000, thevirtual Internet MoneyMuseum opened its first real branch on the premises of the Swiss National Museum. In 2002, the MoneyMuseum opened its firstproper permanent exhibition on the history of money in Zurich in the museum on Baerengasse, a branch museum of the Swiss National Museum. In February2003, the MoneyMuseum was inaugurated on Hadlaubstraße. And in 2014, everything changed yet again when the museum on Hadlaubstraße reopened afterrenovations.

Discussion Forum and Platform
One thing, however, will remain the same-the MoneyMuseum's focus always remains on the big picture. The ultimate aim is to offer visitors food forthought about their own relationships with money. And to do so, the MoneyMuseum has always pursued new methods of conveying this information, be itthrough audio dramatizations, DVD presentations, or films. Everything is geared toward the layperson as well, not just numismatic connoisseurs.

Part and parcel of this as well are the unconventional contexts in which the MoneyMuseum places money-the well attended lectures include themes asdiverse as "money in literature," "money in psychiatry and psychotherapy," or all the way to "your money personality-your writing." There arehistorical lectures too, of course, but the history serves not as an end in and of itself, but rather a backdrop against which the present must becompared.

Social Responsibility and Cyclos
Just being a museum and a platform isn't enough for the MoneyMuseum. Very much in keeping with humanistic ideals, Dr. Juerg Conzett's knowledge andexperience have led to a commitment to develop alternatives to the current monetary economy. The MoneyLab provides information on complementarymonetary systems and exchange platforms. The open source software "Cyclos" allows for online management of complementary monetary systems. TheMoneyMuseum has been instrumental in providing the software to German speaking countries.

The MoneyForum
The MoneyMuseum stands for innovation. And true innovation requires a change in thinking, at upper levels as well. To this end, the MoneyForum offersan opportunity for exchange between high-ranking theorists and influential practitioners. It is a forum in which the "decision makers" acquaintthemselves with what is happening and why. In doing so, it hopes to promote a balance of interests and, in the long-term, also initiate policychanges.

The Only Constant is Change
In order to expand its reach beyond just Zurich, the MoneyMuseum wants to strengthen its role as a discussion platform on the Internet. Experiencedspeakers from the MoneyForum and the MoneyMuseum will be offering podcasts on current hot money topics, but also insights into the history of money.Since the beginning of 2014, the MoneyMuseum owns a well-attended presence on iTunes University in German and English, with many shorter and longersequences about coins, money, economic history, economics, but also about alternatives and the future of money-all of it intended for a wideaudience, and everything available for a free download at any time from anywhere in the world. The sale of the coins will go to partially financethis project.

The employees of the MoneyMuseum are looking forward to this new challenge; since if there's one thing that always remains the same there, it'sthat everything is always changing, always in flux.