One penny at a time

As Canadians say farewell to the penny, one local artist is making sure that the one-cent coin isn’t forgotten.

Hannah Johnson, who owns Gallery 33 on Cumberland Street, started a campaign a few months ago to collect as many pennies as possible. Her plan was to lay the pennies down on the floor like tile and create something unique for the gallery.

The project came around the same time the federal government announced that it would be phasing out the one-cent coin.
Johnson, who has collected coins her whole life, said the idea of a penny floor worked with her since he usually creates art with copper.

“It’s a different way to look at currency,” she said. “Currency is usually a means to an end. You use it to get other things but in this case, the currency is the end. It’s the final product. I was talking to someone this morning and we were thinking how many stories are behind each of these pennies. Some of them are from the 1950s. Pennies are something that if you drop you don’t think twice about but then someone may pick it up.”

In Johnson’s search for pennies, she admits it was a bit more difficult than she first suspected. However, with donations from the community and being able to purchase pennies from the United Way, she said the whole process sped up quickly.

With all the pennies coming in, Johnson had to stop counting around 150,000 but she suspects that she has more than 200,000.

Johnson and several volunteers started the process of individually placing each penny down Saturday. She said she hopes to have the project finished in a day and hopes more people will come and volunteer their time.

Jessica Buzanko, a friend of Johnson’s and a local artist, was one of the volunteers helping. With such a big task in front of her, she said that she’s tackling he project one penny at a time.

“I want to see this done because it is going to be amazing,” she said. “You get to see how pennies changed over time. It’s very exciting to see all of that in one place.  I love history and I love art and that’s basically why I’m here.”

Anyone who wishes to help with the project can visit the gallery Saturday.