Museum of American Finance

The nation's only independent public museum dedicated to celebrating the spirit of entrepreneurship and the democratic free market tradition which has made New York City the financial capital of the world.

Founded in 1988, the Museum was chartered as an educational institution. Today, financial education is at the core of the Museum’s mission and its public programs and services.

An active national-level advocate on behalf of the growing financial literacy movement, the Museum is committed to helping people look to the lessons of American financial history, while taking charge of their own financial lives.

The Museum of American Finance is the perfect starting point for your visit to the Financial District and historic Downtown New York. The Museum occupies the former home of the Bank of New York, founded by Alexander Hamilton in 1784. Items from the permanent collection include ticker tape from the Crash of 1929, a working model stock ticker, the earliest photograph of Wall Street, and documents and artifacts tracing the development of the financial markets.