(Newser)
– The Federal Reserve has established a special force to “move coins” in the United States amid the coronavirus-driven coin shortage, but a man in Wisconsin did not wait for government help to put more nickels and coins of ten cents in circulation. Jim Holton of Wauwatosa, who started saving his coins 20 years ago when his oldest son was born, kept his change every time he ran out for coffee or other chores around town, adding the extra money to piggy banks, buckets, and more. containers he kept in his basement. He tells WTHR that he would generally add at least 60 cents a day after his Java career alone. The big plan for all that scratching, eventually: “I thought … we could do something fun like going to Europe or something we never dreamed of doing,” the father of four told NBC News.
Holton, nicknamed “the coin master” by friends, originally planned not to collect coins until all of his children had graduated from high school (the youngest is now 15 years old), but then learned of the coin shortage. and put at least the first part of his plan into motion. When he counted the change, he was surprised by the grand total: $ 5,366.05, far more than the $ 1,500 or so he had expected. He took it all to a local bank in a wheelbarrow, which he says “felt like he weighed 300 pounds,” and handed over his saved coin. He says he will not accumulate coins again in the foreseeable future due to the nation’s scarcity, adding: “Perhaps he will find another creative way to set money aside.” (Read more coin stories).
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