A Fundação Dr. António Cupertino de Miranda

Why not bring the whole family to find out about the history of money in Portugal?

Do you trust in paper money? The first Portuguese paper money was a Bill. But what was it for? We will find out how the two Bordalo Pinheiro brothers managed to put a factory into action and then analyse the most beautiful of shares – that of the Earthenware Factory of Caldas da Rainha. All this as well as a challenge for those with a quick eye: what features constitute a note and can you find the differences between the features of five notes?

Together with the family, and at your own pace, let yourselves be taken on a journey that follows the history of paper money: place of departure: China; place of arrival: Europe. The journey includes the unbelievable, “nearly” perfect fraud: from 1925, Artur Virgílio Alves Reis was the talk of the town among politicians, soldiers, journalists and the average man in the street, who all wondered how he could have been so daring. For a year, he committed one of the most famous swindles in European memory, which came to be known as the Banknote case. How did he do it and how did this true story end?

The theme is money and air transport; the aim is to discover money through two Portuguese heroes: Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral. Their story will be told using various banknotes and by watching a film made from real pictures that reconstitute the first flight from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro.

The theme is money and sea transport; the aim is to discover money through the Portuguese feats in the age of the discoveries. A thrilling journey told through the 100 thousand Reis notes of 1909, the 100 Escudos of 1920 and the 500 Escudos of 1922. 

Set off on an adventure in the Museum with a rucksack on your back. There are five trails to discover: animals, important people, famous cars, planes and Euros.