Coin Art

Hello all! Wishing you the best of happiness! Today I'm sharing a very easy project, assuming you have coins to make it with. I've been trying hard to display different types of art around my house. I framed bird feathers and calendar art amongst other things. This time, I thought about pulling out all the coins that have been collecting over the years from various travels. Between my husband, brother, myself and parents I've collected from at least 10 countries. Some are no longer in circulation and others are still valid currencies.

I used acid free scrapbook paper (I picked navy blue), a 7 durham ($2.00) wooden frame from Daiso, some Krylon Gold metallic spray paint and a hot glue gun.

Coin Art

I took the plastic cover off because of the glare. 

First, I laid out all the coins and played around with the layout. After I decided on an arrangement I hot glued one by one making sure the coin is adjusted immediately. Hot glue dries fast so you have to be quick with adjustments. I did this project once before with white/elmers/school glue, and while you have more time to adjust the coin with that glue, it's not strong and the glue cannot handle the weight of the coin which ends up pealing off. 

Basic wood frame. I started to prime on the right. 

UK pence. What a cool color.

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Egyptian piaster

Other side of the Egyptian coin. 

Egypt top right, Turkey two in the middle. Italy (I think) top left

KSA (top middle), UK pence (right), USA penny and dime (lower middle) Germany (two bottom)

Kuwait (top right). 

I love the rustic pence. It's the only coin that has oxidized like that. Does that mean it's silver?

From top to bottom: Italian lira, Egyptian piasters, Euros.

Canadian coins, top two. 

Tiny gold coin on top is from South Africa. It oxidized blue! Crazy isn't it?

This frame came with vinyl not glass which is perfect for this type of project. My concern with glass is that when you try to secure the art in side the frame the pressure of the coins might break the glass. I didn't try, and I could be totally wrong, but I didn't want to risk as everything out here is expensive and I am trying to save money not waste it. The glare from the vinyl is bad in this picture, but in person it's fine and all the coins are nicely visible. 

I didn't use any UAE coins (fills), but have any of you living out here noticed the new Dirham silver color coin is magnetic? Kind of weird. 

I picked the coins that were the most unique looking in design, shape, oxidized in a peculiar way, that coincidentally had production years that represented special dates in my life, i.e., birth year, wedding year etc. This was a very fun project and a good way to pull out money that can't be used from the drawers and actually displaying them. The kids learned a lot too about the different currencies other countries use. So what countries have you been too and what did you do with the extra money left behind from the trip? Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to leave your comments!

-Debora