Last year, while cleaning out her father’s former home in Los Angeles, a California realtor and his wife, John and Elizabeth Reyes, found a hidden stash of over 1 million pennies in the crawlspace of the basement. According to CW station KTLA, the house was built in the early 1900s and was used as a bed and breakfast in the past, and Elizabeth’s father and uncle had lived there for years until Elizabeth’s father passed away and his brother moved away.
Last year, while cleaning their house, the couple found loose pennies in the damp crawlspace. They found a large pile of bank bags filled with pennies that they later realized were made of copper instead of the zinc used in the 1980s. John mentioned that his parents kept everything.
After finding the pennies, the group’s excitement turned into frustration due to the difficult task of carrying heavy bags out of the tight crawlspace. It was unclear what they should do with the large number of pennies. Reyes initially suggested taking them to Coinstar but the group rejected the idea upon remembering they would have to pay a fee. This information was reported by KTLA.
They attempted to find a bank in the L.A. area, but were unsuccessful as one branch manager claimed that they lacked adequate vault space. Consequently, they turned to their local San Bernardino County bank to assist them. The task of transferring the pennies from the basement was slow and it took them a whole day, according to Reyes’ statement to KTLA.
Their plans were not successful because the local bank refused to accept the pennies. As a result, Reyes and his family have decided to sell the coins on OfferUp, a resale app and website. They are asking for $25,000 and have received some offers, but Reyes intends to wait for someone to offer the full asking price, stating that the coins’ value lies in their uniqueness.
