No human being should be able to stack coins like this.

During the month of August, many people in Japan are enjoying some much needed downtime in the form of the Obon holidays. Some decide to travel while others return to their hometowns to see family and friends.

And then there are the rare few who shut themselves inside their homes and balance coins in an elaborate fashion. One such person is Twitter user Tanu who erected an elegant looking array of coins.

▼ “This holiday I did not take a trip. I did not hang out with friends.
I was making this. What this is, I do not know.”

What this is, is a work of art that must have required a fair degree of patience and nerves of steel to pull off. Tanu says that no adhesives or tweezers were used in its creation. Everything was done by hand and gravity alone in the span of about two hours.

As we can see, the bulk of it is made up of Japanese one-yen coins in one of the most worthwhile uses of them I have ever seen. However, that coin in the center is clearly not Japanese. Tanu tweeted that it was a one peso coin from Argentina that was laying around the house.

https://twitter.com/dachidachia_net/status/897274636945072128

Now before you go digging through your sofa for a bunch of coins to become the next Tanu, there is a slight trick to his magic that can only be done with the Japanese set of coins or ones with similar features.

In Japan both the five and fifty-yen coins have holes in their centers. If you look very closely at the pictures above you can see that the Argentine peso is braced by two such holes, as is the single one-yen coin on top, but some of his other works show it more clearly.

Nevertheless, it is still mighty impressive, especially how he got that interlocking block of coins to balance so precariously on top like that. Others on Twitter agree.

“Good job!”
“How much is that all together?”
“That is art.”
“That looks like a monument out by Nagoya Station.”
“You’ve probably increased the value of those one yen coins!”
“Can I see a time-lapse video of you making this?”

As for videos, Tanu does have a Niconico Douga channel (registration required) which shows some of his coin stacking exploits, or you can check out a collection of his gravity-defying works we’ve covered before.

That just leaves the question of how much this little monument is worth. I tried counting but kept getting a severe headache and nosebleeds a short way in. If there are any Rain Men or Women out there who can do it (Argentine Peso included) let us know!

Source: Twitter/@thumb_tani, Livedoor News
Featured image: Twitter/@thumb_tani