In August the Art Reserve Bank, Amsterdam issued a coin with the title ‘The Sound of Money’. The coin, designed by Elly Baltus, is minted in 3mm thick nickel silver with a diameter of 50mm. The small edition (100 pieces) gives the coin its exclusivity. The short selling time makes it even more exclusive. Until September 5th, 2013 the coin can be purchased at the head office of the Bank, on the Zuidas, Amsterdam. After that date possessors of the coin can trade it on the on-line platform.


For the Art Reserve Bank, Elly Baltus has made a design ‘The Sound of Money’. Using her skills as a 4D artist she plays with the idea to make sound – the sound of money – visible, tangible.

Apart from the bang of the coining press, the jingle of loose change in a pocket and the jangle of coins running through a miser’s fingers, money is silent. It is however the cause of many associated sounds…

The bell which rings the opening of the Wall Street stock exchange, the cries of the traders in the pit of the Chicago Futures Market, the hum of traded forex buzzing around the world 24/7, the tinkle of the cash till, the clatter of a disgorging fruit machine, the scream of a lottery winner, the rattle of the charity worker’s tin, the rustle of paper money counted into a car salesman’s hand…

It is ABBA in a rich man’s world, (for Pink Floyd Money was on the Dark Side of the Moon,) it is the hope and fear in the eyes of the gambler when he hears ‘Rien ne va plus’, it is the clink of the roulette ball in the wheel, the yelp of the winner and the sigh of the loser and the scrape of the rake as the chips are hauled in.

It laces the accent of the aristocrat, it makes the clunk of the Roll’s door solid, it fuels Las Vegas.

It is — The Sound of Money.


This coin is included in the Haupt collection in Berlin and published by the independent collectors GmbH


Video of minting the coin on a friction screw press. Art Reserve Bank in Amsterdam.

THE SOUND OF MONEY

https://youtu.be/kFAybq3u9ME