This kiosk reveals the security measures built into the $10 bill.

Courtesy of Museum of American Finance

Aside from allowance negotiations (which, let’s face it, are no fun), finance isn’t a popular topic of conversation among children and their parents. This means that even in a market-driven city like NYC, kids can grow up clueless about earning, saving and investing cash. The mission of the Museum of American Finance, says its president, Lee Kjelleren, is to educate visitors of all ages about entrepreneurship, banking and the market system. The result, if the museum is successful? Possibly, kids who can afford to live here when they’ve grown up.

Admittedly, most of the exhibits at the 30,000-square-foot institution—which moved to its new Wall Street digs in January—are best suited to those in middle school and older. But the pre-K crowd can marvel at antique piggy banks, old-fashioned cash registers and a curvaceous couch made of $30,000 worth of nickels (have your tot sit down for a Kodak moment). Noteworthy artifacts include a 1908 Ford Motor Company stock certificate signed by Henry Ford, ticker tape from Black Tuesday and a bond that belonged to President George Washington, believed to be the first official use of the dollar symbol by the federal government.

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