As the saying goes, “Find a penny, pick it up, all day long, you’ll have good luck.”
It can become a ritual to scour the ground for any loose change they may find. I know my grandmother kept a piggy bank of all the coins she found when she was out walking, a reminder to remember you could find anything if you just kept looking long enough.
For one Louisiana man, those fallen coins were more than just a good luck penny. It reminded him to pray to God, as well as give thanks.
“I became convinced that spotting a lost or dropped penny was an additional God-given incentive reminding me to always be thankful,” Otha Anders, 73.
There have been days where I failed to pray and more often than not, a lost or dropped penny would show up to remind me.”
And now, his devotion helped him pay a medical bill. Recently, Anders took 15 give-gallon jugs full of pennies to the bank, and five hours later, Anders had $5,136.14 to pay his dentist bill.
Otha Anders spent more than 45 years collecting pennies he found. Photo by The News-Star
Origin Bank Vice President Jennie Cole said they don’t typically have customers with that sort of coin exchange. However, Anders was a long-time customer, she said.
“We value his business, as we do all of our customers,” Cole said. “But if we can help Anders with his endeavors, we are happy to do so.”
The bank used a machine to count the coins. Cole said after Anders lets them know where he wants the cash he received in exchange for the pennies, they will then send those pennies to the FDIC. In turn, the bank will then be credited for the amount of coins.
Anders said he works as a supervisor for the Jackson School Board. His students would then save pennies to sell to him. Because Anders had one rule: “… I never allowed anyone, not even my wife nor children, to give me pennies without being compensated,” he said.
I wanted the inner satisfaction that God and I acquired this collection.”
Anders said that even in the 1970s, when the U.S. government needed pennies, he refused an offer to sell his pennies. At the time, Americans could turn in their pennies for a bonus of $25 per each $100 given to the government.
Anders said he has truly enjoyed looking at his penny collection to the extent that in the 1970s, when the U.S. government offered a $25 bonus for every $100 worth of pennies turned in, he refused to cash in his collection.
“If I was at someone’s house and I found a penny, I would pick it up and I would keep it,” he said. “I will always tell the person that if it was a quarter, I would give it back, but since it is a penny, I’m keeping it.”
Watch below to see Anders’ collection of coins. Like and comment below, and let us know what item you or someone you know have collected.
