Cleaning out your parents' home after they pass can be like navigating a JUNKYARD . . . or a GOLD MINE. And for these people, it was a COPPER mine.
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A couple in L.A. were cleaning out their parents' home last year, and they discovered a TON of pennies in a tight crawlspace in the back of the basement.
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There were loose pennies . . . boxes of pennies . . . crates of pennies . . . and dozens of bank bags filled with pennies. They estimate that there's a MILLION of them, if not more.
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They didn't say exactly how old they are . . . but the pennies are copper . . . not zinc, which the U.S. switched to in the 1980s.
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The problem is:Â What do you do with one million pennies?
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Their first thought was Coinstar, but they didn't want to lose 8% . . . and logistically, it wouldn't work, since it would be a pain to get the pennies there, and just a bag or two would probably jam up the machines.
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They called around to banks, but NONE of them were interested. One bank manager even warned them NOT to bring them in . . . saying they didn't have room in the vault to accept bulk pennies.
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One million pennies would be $10,000 . . . but the couple thinks there's more "value in the uniqueness" of the collection. And they said that it's possible that there are rare pennies in there somewhere.
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They put up ads online, saying they'd part with them for $25K. But they've only received low-ball offers back so far. One person offered the copper value, but that proved to be impractical. So, for now they're holding onto them.
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By the way, it's unclear why the home owners had stashed all those pennies . . . but the family believes they intentionally converted paychecks to copper pennies, believing that their value would be worth more over time. (KTLA)Â
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