How many times do you get change from $1.00 and leave it or put it in a pile only to forget about it? Most people dislike having change because it’s heavy and clunky, preferring to spend dollars or use credit/debit cards. If that sounds like you, it might be time to rethink your idea of money. Though a few pennies don’t make a big difference, one man saved up for 45 years and cashed out to make a killing. It’s time to hear his story and the benefits of saving whatever change or money you can. Keep reading to find out how much cash he got!
One man walked into a bank, rolling a big dolly behind him. As it squeaked and squealed, everyone stared at him. Still, he kept walking and finally came up to the teller’s counter with a smile on his face. The teller looked in disbelief, asking how many there were. This man had saved pennies for 45 years and just picked them up from the street. He had no idea yet, but that effort resulted in a fortune, and it was all for him. Otha Anders was a 73-year-old who worked with the Jackson School Board. He watched suspended kids and loved his job.
This man focused on family and had children and a wife who supported him all the way. However, one hobby of his raised some eyebrows. Anders started collecting pennies from the street as a hobby, but it turned into an obsession and all-consuming hobby with time. In fact, he felt that those pennies were an incentive from God. Otha claimed that there were days he didn’t pray because he was busy or didn’t think of it. However, when that happened, he came upon a dropped or lost penny. It just showed up to remind him.
Most people think to wish on a penny, but Otha prays on one. He’d been religious all his life, and his faith grew as he got older. That’s how the penny obsession started; he saw those pennies as a personal gift from God and never realized how many gifts he could get. The moment Anders picked up that first penny, he never dreamed he might continue grabbing them for the next 45 years. However, he soon realized that his penny pile was growing, making him more obsessed over time.
Otha said that he never spent a penny. In fact, he broke a dollar before he gave up a precious coin. This man was on a mission. Once his students at school learned about his fascination, they chose to help. School children came to his class with handfuls of pennies to hand over. However, Anders had principles. He never let anyone – even his wife and kids – give pennies without getting compensation. Did he pay them for their pennies?
Anders collected pennies for 45 years until he had filled up 15 5-gallon water jugs. There were so many, and he couldn’t count them. He believed he had 100,000 or more, but he didn’t know. Still, he was about to learn! Throughout the years, Otha continued to collect all the pennies he could. With time, he ended up filling 15 5-gallon water jugs, and they only contained pennies. No silver (or nickel) was in sight. He might have gone on collecting them and keeping them if it wasn’t for a problem he encountered. As he was renewing his home affairs, he ended up feeling devastated. What happened?
If Anders had had his way, he might have kept the collection and picked up pennies for years to come. However, life threw a curveball. Since he had a small fortune, he needed the collection covered with house insurance. The company turned him away, and so did many others! When Anders went to renew his home insurance, he learned that the company couldn’t cover the penny collection. Reluctantly, he chose to visit the bank, cashing in his prized possession.
Anders was well aware that he needed to get those pennies to the bank before his insurance coverage expired. He didn’t know how to do it, though. He contacted around and located a bank in Louisiana named Ruston Original Bank that would accept them. While Anders rolled his containers in on dollies, the bank personnel glanced at him, perplexed. Their eyes opened as they saw the number of pennies. He was concerned that they would turn him away, so the teller inquired as to how many he had. Anders pondered for a while before admitting that he wasn’t sure how many there were. He’d say roughly half a million small copper pennies if he had to guess.
The woman was astonished and laughed as she stated they couldn’t count them for him. Anders appealed while laughing a little. He knew it was insane, but this was a valuable collection that needed to be liquidated. He stated that if he had his way, he would keep them forever. The woman made the decision to contact the manager. The manager arrived soon when the teller phoned for him. His face brightened up as he walked out to see what was going on and who was causing the commotion. He was familiar with this individual.
Anders was pondering how to count all the pennies before he recognized him. Perhaps he could have only brought one jug at a time. Overall, Otha saved an unbelievable amount of money over the years! Otha was overjoyed and requested his pals to assist him in bringing all of the containers in one by one. Employees gathered in anticipation of the counting of the first 5-gallon container. It was the most exciting thing that had happened to the bank in a long time. A hammer and an ax were required to open each of the plastic containers. Putting the pennies through the bank’s coin-counting machine took roughly five hours to yield the total.
Anders had accumulated $5,136.14 throughout the course of his 45 years of collecting pennies! For those interested, that works out to about $114.14 each year. What was he going to do with the money now that he had picked up old, forgotten pennies from the street? Anders understood exactly how to put the money to good use. He’d recently received a dental bill and was unsure how he’d be able to pay it. He found the money he needed just as the large bill arrived. Was it just a lucky accident? The bill wasn’t nearly as high as his penny collection had yielded. He didn’t want to be greedy, though. He decided to put the remaining funds toward a family vacation and donate part to his church.