Money and finance appeared very early in history, at least five thousand years ago, as soon as individuals could specialize in different trades, producing a single good or service and buying everything else from others.

Over the centuries, the forms of monetary and financial instruments and the ways in which we use them have changed and their spread in economic systems and in everyday life has grown enormously.

However, their main functions have remained the same: to help us pay, to save, to account for, to manage the risks of an uncertain future. Many of the greatest works and discoveries of human ingenuity have been made possible by money and finance and are the result of efforts to make economic transactions safer and more efficient and to improve accounting techniques. Alongside these positive contributions to the well-being of humanity, however, they have sometimes given rise to serious problems: excessive debts, speculative bubbles, price instability and other forms of wealth destruction.

In its journey through history, the currency today is measured with new frontiers, taking up the challenge posed by innovations such as crypto-assets through the development of the new digital euro, a public currency, free and strong of the trust guaranteed by the European Central Bank and the Eurosystem.

That of money and finance was and is a compelling and instructive story. It deserves to be exposed to the attention and curiosity of the public. Today we do so by unveiling some installations of the MUDEM, the future Museo della Moneta of the Banca d 'Italia. It is a path characterized by four important moments, each of which is dedicated to a specific theme or a crucial period:

• the intertwining of economics, finance and payments and the need for financial education;

• the ancient roots of finance and money;

• the birth of banks in the Italian Middle Ages and the English industrial revolution;

• the role of central banks in the governance of money, with a view to the future.

Each of these moments will present itself as a symbiosis between exciting digital narratives and precious objects with strong evocative power.

In the margins of the exhibition it will be possible to take part in educational workshops for schools and adults. The workshops, managed by Banca d 'Italia staff, are opportunities for active discussion on financial education issues: what lies behind our financial choices? What drives us to spend or save our money in a certain way? We will discover this by testing our "cognitive distortions" through the so-called "behavioural economics".

We look forward to seeing you at the FONDAZIONE CARITRO in Trento, on the occasion of the Festival dell 'Economia 2025