Museum on the Mound

Multiple Galleries

The Museum has five main galleries:

• A Bank for Scotland. This gallery explores the origins of the Bank of Scotland from 1695 and the development of banking within Scotland. The Bank of Scotland was involved in several mergers and acquisitions with different banks, such as the British Linen Bank and in 2001 merged with the Halifax Bank to form HBOS. On January 19, 2009, the Bank formed a key part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the acquisition of HBOS.
• The Bank on the Mound. This gallery details the history of the iconic building which houses the Museum. The Mound, aka Geordie Boyd’s Mud Brig, is a man-made hill created from earth of the city’s New Town foundation. The Bank’s directors purchased the site in 1800 at a cost of £3,500.

Over a period of 200 years the building has been enlarged and adapted to meet the bank’s growing business and changing need. The iconic building of the Museum on the Mound appears on every Bank of Scotland banknote in circulation today.

• Money Matters. All of these galleries feature coins and/or banknotes to help tell the Bank’s stories, but the main coins and banknotes displays are in the central Money Matters gallery. There is a small selection of coins from Lydia, Greece, Persia and Rome, and Scottish and British coins showing every monarch’s reign from David I (1123-1153) to Elizabeth II (1952-). There is also a display showing the manufacture of coins from early hammered, through mill and screw to the 2004 Forth Bridge £1-coin. This includes artist Edwina Ellis’ original lino cut of the artwork for the Forth Bridge design, and a selection of dies courtesy of the Royal Mint.