Cardiff's Coal Exchange opened for business on 1 February 1886. This would be the place where the world price for coal was set and where the first ever cheque for 1 million was signed in 1901.

Bute West Dock had opened in 1839 and Bute East Dock in in 1855. By the 1880s business was booming but the coal traders had nowhere to meet. Deals where done in the open in all weathers. Frederick De Courcy Hamilton saw the opportunity and decided to open a club for the Cardiff docksmen on the site of a small residential park in the centre of Mount Stuart Square. The architect was Edwin Seward who also designed the Central Library, Cardiff Royal Infirmary and Turner Gallery in Penarth.

The Exchange thrived and Mount Stuart Square became the commercial hub for Cardiff. At it peak 10,000 people passed through the Exchange every day. As the coal trade declined however, so did the Coal Exchange and trading ceased in 1958. The building nearly became home to the Welsh Assembly in the late 1970s and today it houses offices and hosts the occasional concert. Lots more about Cardiff's history at www.cardiffonfoot.com