One Million Cent Pyramid

On January 1st, 2015, Lithuania officially changed their national currency to the Euro, joining many other European nations in using the widely accepted monetary system. So, to celebrate, they broke a world record with a pyramid made out of their disused coins.

The project was the brainchild of two Lithuanian physics students, Vytautas Jakštas and Domas Jokubauskis, who wanted to create a fitting memorial to the currency they grew up with. To this end, the pair designed a pyramid created out of over a million one-cent pieces. The project began with much simpler goals, but as the collecting began, they found that they had many more coins on their hands than they had anticipated and the triangular monument was proposed. Whether the creators intended a symbolic connection between the death of their former coin (the lita) and the funereal purpose behind the iconic Egyptian pyramids is unknown.

Built on a table in the Bank of Lithuania’s Money Museum, the heavy monument reaches over a meter tall and was stacked over three weeks prior to the new year. The pyramid marks the single largest coin pyramid in the world according to the creators. When the monument is made to come down the intention is to donate the coins to children’s charities, assumedly before the lita is no longer accepted in favor of the euro.