Project 1p

The idea of trading with other people is not a new concept, yet in an increasingly transactional environment based around money exchanges, we have seen many brands utilising the bartering system. Australian beer brand XXXX launched The Boat Building Project, another launched The Beer Exchanging Project and currently there is Project 1p.

Since January this year, blogger 'Luke' launched Project 1p. The aim is to turn a 1p coin into something of greater value, simply through trading. The project ends on New Year’s Eve 2012, by the end of which Luke hopes to end up with something worth more than 1p.

So, what has happened so far? Luke, open to any offers for his 1p coin, managed to trade the coin for 3 fish. This was then traded for a guitar; the guitar for a bike; the bike for £50; and most amazingly, the £50 got him a plot of land measuring 10m² in Bulgaria. This was then traded for a custom-made metal object, which was swapped for a French yurt holiday, which in turn was swapped for a portrait of Nick Hornby made of 2,500 1p coins. The most recent swap was the portrait for a wedding dress. This project just goes to show that you should never underestimate the power of a 1p coin.

If you have any offers for Luke, then visit http://project1p.wordpress.com/