BDAR

One million centas pyramid — largest in the world

Print
2015-09-03

The compilers of the Guinness Book of World Records have confirmed that the pyramid from 1,000,935 centas coins, standing at the Money Museum of the Bank of Lithuania, is the largest in the world. The website for recording world records writes that the pyramid was erected from Lithuanian 1 centas coins before the adoption of the euro to honour Lithuania’s former currency.

“This is great news for all those who have helped collect a million coins and erect the largest coin pyramid in the world, which now makes Lithuania famous. Thank you for all who participated in this project and we all together reached a world record,” says Vytautas Jakštas, who organised the collection of coins for the pyramid and its erection together with Domas Jokubauskas.

It took almost five years for the two residents of Vilnius, currently Doctors of Science, to realise this idea; collecting coins took most of the time. The coin pyramid was built at the Money Museum on 11–29 November 2014. A few dozen volunteers helped the construction organisers put them into a pyramid.

“The pyramid has instantly become an exhibit of attraction for visitors; people like to take photos by it, which spread through the social networks, luring others to see this unique creation,” says Vidmantas Laurinavičius, Head of the Money Museum.

The pyramid is composed of piles — 15 coins in each pile. Its lower layer is a square, composed of 58x58 such piles. The side of each upper layer decreases by one pile until one only pile is at the top. On 4 December 2014 it was officially confirmed that the precise number of coins in the pyramid is 1,000,935. The following measurements of the pyramid were also recorded:   height — 1,160 mm, length — 1,085 mm, width — 1,090 mm. The certificate confirming this data was sent to the organisation recording world records, Guinness World Records.

The Bank of Lithuania’s Money Museum is based in the heart of Vilnius — at the intersection of Gedimino Avenue and Totorių Street. Since the beginning of 2011, when the Museum opened, it has been visited by over 145 thousand visitors from Lithuania and abroad.