Tuesday I did a little local sightseeing starting with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Back when I toured the Robert A. Long office building, I noticed the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City building across the street. However, the bank moved to a site south of the Liberty Memorial in 2008.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City covers the 10th district (of 12 districts) of the Federal Reserve which includes Colorado, Nebraska, parts of Missouri and New Mexico, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Kansas. It is 2nd in size only to Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in terms of geographical area served. Federal Reserve Notes issued by the bank are identified by "J" on the face of one and two dollar bills and "J10" on other currency.
The first bank was in the R. A. Long building at 928 Grand which opened in 1914 until a new $4.3 million building could open across the street which opened in 1921. President Truman had his office in the building after he left the Presidency in 1953 until the Truman Library opened in 1957.
The Money Museum at the new site offers visitors an opportunity to learn about the functions of the Federal Reserve and America's financial system. On display is the 450 piece Truman coin collection featuring coins from every president. You can also see versions of real currency dating back to 1776 and one of the region's largest cash vaults with 540,000 cubic feet of storage capacity.
