John Regitko of Toronto, Canada writes:

During one of my visits to see friends in Michigan in the 1990s, I stumbled across the MoneyMuseum of the National Bank of Detroit. Other than errors & varieties, I owned quite a collectionof primitive forms of money. So when I entered the museum, it was like a kid entering a candystore, since the majority of the displays were taken up by unusual forms of money from aroundthe world, as these photos attest to.

The National Bank of Detroit (NBD) was founded in 1933 in the midst of widespread bankfailures during the Great Depression. Spurred by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)to help stabilize the nation's banking system, NBD's shares were initially equally owned byGeneral Motors and by the U.S. government under the RFC. The bank opened for business onMarch 24, 1933. By 1945, GM had divested of its ownership in NBD and by 1947 the RFC hadended its involvement.

The National Bank of Detroit (NBD) was a bank that operated mostly in the Midwestern UnitedStates. It also had overseas branches in England (London), Canada (Toronto and Windsor) andJapan (Tokyo).

NBD merged with the First National Bank of Chicago in the mid-1990s; the combined bank wascalled First Chicago NBD. Branches in some states (e.g. Michigan) retained the NBD name,while branches in others (e.g. Illinois) changed to First Chicago. It was at the time of this mergerthat the numismatic museum was closed.

First Chicago NBD later merged with Bank One, which eliminated the NBD name. Bank Onewas itself purchased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. As of March 2006, all former NBD branchescarry the Chase name.

The museum, which used to reside in the formerly-named National Bank of Detroit Building(later renamed Chase Tower) has, unfortunately, disappeared.