Museums are full of strange and unique items. Lucky for you, these five are right here in the capital of the New South.
Zimbabwean $100 trillion dollar – On display in Midtown's Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's Monetary Museum, visitors can feast their eyes on a $100 trillion dollar from Zimbabwe, the result of the country's years of hyperinflation in the early 2000s. Beginning in 2005, the country's president, Robert Mugabe, ordered he central bank to print money in order to cover the country's vast debt causing the inflation, which, at its peak, saw prices double in an estimated 24.7 hours.
Sid Bream's knee brace– Inside Turner Field, the Ivan Allen Jr. Braves Museum & Hall of Fame showcases fan-pleasing memorabilia related to decades of Braves baseball history. Among the collection of balls, bats and hats you'll find the knee brace that Sid Bream was wearing during the 1992 National League Championship Series, against the Pittsburgh Pirates, when he slid home to send the Braves to the World Series.
Jaime Hayon 's Green Chicken– Part of the High Museum of Art's Decorative Arts and Design Department collection, the four-foot long and three-feet tall lacquered fiberglass depiction of a green chicken with a metal base is a take on the traditional rocking horse. When the artist designed the piece, he wanted to create something that, "makes you dream when you look at it." Want to look at it? You'll find it in the Stent Family Wing, Skyway Level, Gallery 405.
Decorated ostrich egg with a miniature Carter cabinet meeting scene inside – Presidents are given all sorts of gifts throughout their lifetimes. Sometimes they're precious, often symbolic, and other times they are downright strange. Head over to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum to see an ostrich egg ornately decorated with rhinestones, lace, presidential seals and a golden eagle on top by folk artist Barbara Frye depicting a miniature scene of a Cabinet meeting. The egg sits on a musical base that plays "Hail to the Chief."
Fossil floors – When was the last time you walked on fossils? 40,000 Fossil-filled limestone tiles make up the floors of the Fernbank Museum of Natural History. Each fossil comes from an animal that lived in a shallow reef more than 150 million years ago including belemnites, sponges, and ammonites. The Fernbank Museum logo is inspired by the fossils you'll find inside the stone.
When you plan your next visit to an Atlanta museum, plan on checking out a few of these oddities all of which are currently on display and able to be seen by purchasing a general admission ticket.
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