Philippines gathers coins to set new world record

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine civic groups and charities lined up almost 73 kilometers (45 miles) of coins on Wednesday in a bid to set a new Guinness World Record and build schools for the poor.

The project, which aimed to set a new record for the longest line of single-denomination coins, received a better response than anticipated with families thronging Manila’s Quirino Grandstand to donate their coins.

While it will take time to get the official certification from Guinness World Records, organizer Paul Chan said the Philippines had clearly toppled the old record of 64.88 kilometers of pennies set in Fort Scott, Kansas in 2008.

“Unofficially, we have received nearly 73 kilometers of coins already but we cannot state that officially unless a geodetic engineer and an architect certifies it,” as required by Guinness, said Chan.

Businesses, universities and private groups all contributed nearly 3.6 million 25-centavo denomination coins, amounting to about 912,000 pesos ($21,000), which will be used to build schools.

The project, supported by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, is also intended to bring more coins into circulation to ease a shortage of loose change affecting many businesses, organizers said.