‘Make cents out of this’: Man saves every coin he’s been given over five years
Impressive haul includes rare coins from across the Eurozone
Your support helps us to tell the story
As your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.
Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn't have the resources to challenge those in power.
Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November election
Andrew Feinberg
White House Correspondent
An Austrian man saved every coin he was given as change over a five-year period posting a picture of the impressive haul online.
Inspired by his uncle who saved the same way on a smaller scale, he stored the coins in a 25 litre canister as he saved them. The resulting trove weighs 135lb (61.2kg).
The photo shows coins of all denominations from one, two, and five cents, up through ten, twenty, and fifty cents, and a slew of one and two euro coins.
Some commenters made guesses as to what the total amount might be, but were way off, with one person guessing €413.21, another €986, and another €2,500.
The actual amount was nearer €7,000 ($8,200)
Reddit user Spoale94 has not revealed what he will do with the proceeds of the haul, but answering questions on the platform, he appeared to be enjoying sorting through the pile by denomination.
Euro coins have a national design for each Eurozone country on one side, as well as the four micro-states of Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, and the Vatican.
So far he has discovered three Vatican coins and one from San Marino. He is also hunting for special commemorative coins.
He plans to deposit the trove into his bank account once he has sorted through it, saying that his bank in Austria allows unlimited coin deposits free of charge.
The post also sparked a debate about how he was able to save so many coins in an age of electronic transactions, with one commenter saying they had the reverse problem — a lack of coin accumulation.
However, in Germany and Austria cash is still king.
Others wanted to know why he didn’t invest the money as he collected the coins, depositing them in a high-interest account or stocks instead of storing them in the canister.
Nevertheless, others were inspired by his project and said they would start doing the same, but one commenter was unconvinced, quipping: “I’m trying to make cents out of this.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments