I got curious about how many statues of coins there were. I managed to find seven.
This one I knew about before googling, so it’s probably the most famous. Despite the fact that it’s a replica of a 1951 nickel, it was actually built in the 1960s. Not the oldest one out there, but at 9 meters across, is probably the biggest.
Bitg Penny in Woodruff WI. This one probably is the oldest, although I’ll admit I haven’t checked all their dates. But it was built in 1953.
Big Loonie, Echo Bay ON. Up near Sault Ste Marie.
Another big loonie, Churchbridge SK. Only this one doesn’t have a loon. It’s a commemorative coin for the 125th anniversary of Canada.
Big toonie, Campbellford ON
Big Penny, Salmo BC. Sort of abstract in that it doesn’t have all the details the actual coin has.
Big Quarter, Everett PA
So any others out there? Maybe somewhere other than Canada or the US.
Lateral answer to the question, but there’s the stone money of Yap, an island state of Micronesia.
They’re not really “statues” but actual currency that is still occasionally used for traditional or ceremonial exchanges. The stone they are made from does not originate on the island and thus needed to be found abroad and imported on a raft, at great trouble and danger, which accounted for much of their value. Because of their size it is impractical to physically move them, but ownership is public knowledge and everyone just knows who owns which stones.
There used to be a giant $1 bill painting on the wall outside the Cahier’s office in building 10 at MIT. It disapopeared when they movred that office and turned the space into a lounge. But they kept a small reproduction of it around
Possibly inspired by the MIT dollar bill, someone at the University of Rochester painted a dollar bill on the wall of one of the many U of R tunnels going under the Commons. It was subject to constant grafitti, so he used to go down and scrub it off (sometimes with a propane torch) and repaint it. When William E. Simon, the Secretary of the Treasury gave a lecture at the University, they had him come down into the tunnels and sign it. Some people argued that this made it “legal tender”. Although it’d be hard to spend.
Like the MIT painting, though, it’s gone now. There’s a picture of Simon siging the Rochester dollar bill on page 92 here
Well, to be fair, they didn’t have very much room to fit in fine details. If they had included all of the details, some of them would only be a few inches across.
I used the wrong term. “Abstract” is not quite what I meant. What’s missing is a row of dots around the outside, the raised edge, and the initials of the designer. But there are other things wrong. The typeface of the lettering is wrong is probably the main one. Here’s a picture of what a real Canadian penny looked like:
