ART PROJECT PILES 15,000 COINS ON SIDEWALK

It was one of London's stranger social experiments - dump 15,000 2p coins on a towpath and then film what happens.

AirBnB host Jamahl McMurran and his guest Lana Mesic, a photographer, dreamt up the stunt to use up a mound of coins left over after being used in an art installation.

They bagged them up and hauled them down to the towpath on the Regent's Canal before setting up a camera in Mr McMurran's flat overlooking the area.

The pair got four hours of footage before they scheme came to a halt when two thieves turned up and swiped the £300 pile.

Before the theft, Mr McMurran and Ms Mesic caught on film a cyclist standing in the mound before picking a handful of coins up and tossing them over his head, and children playing in the pile.

Other people attempted to take as many coins as possible, including a teenage boy, but most were thwarted by their weight.

Mr McMurran, who works for investment firm Seedcamp, told the Standard he was “gutted” when the coins were taken so soon, but still thought the experiment had been “incredible”.

Ms Mesic, a Croatian artist now based in the Netherlands, had the coins leftover from an art installation and was struggling to find a way to transport them back to the Netherlands.

“I suggested putting them by the river as a joke one night over a drink and she genuinely started contemplating it,” explained Mr McMurran.

"It was completely spontaneous and we had no idea what would happen. Some of the footage is absolute hilarious, that one guy who stood in the coins is magical.

To read the complete article, see:
What happens when you leave 15,000 2p coins by Regent's Canal as a social experiment... two thieves swipe them all (http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/passersby-frolic-in-mound-of-2p-coins-left-by-regents-canal-in-social-experiment-before-two-men-a3541671.html)

Newman Numismatic Portal Partner of the Week

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web