Couple Finds Stash of 1 Million Pennies While Cleaning Out L.A. Home: ‘They Kept Everything’

A California realtor and his wife got the surprise of a lifetime when they were cleaning out her father’s former home in Los Angeles.

John and Elizabeth Reyes uncovered a hidden stash of more than 1 million pennies in the crawlspace deep in the basement last year, according to CW station KTLA. Elizabeth’s father and uncle lived in the home, which was built in the early 1900s and is believed to have once been used as a bed and breakfast, for decades until her dad died and his brother moved away.

One day while clearing out the house last year — "they kept everything," said John — the couple stumbled on some loose pennies in the damp crawlspace, according to the outlet. Eventually, they discovered an immense pile of bank bags filled with pennies, which they later determined were copper, and not zinc, which the United States switched to in the 1980s.

But their excitement over the find quickly turned to frustration when they realized it wouldn’t be an easy task lugging the heavy bags out of the tight crawlspace. And once that task was accomplished, what to do with so many pennies?

Reyes recalled thinking at the time, "We’ve got to take these to Coinstar,” but the group quickly nixed that idea when they remembered they’d have to pay a fee," per KTLA.

Instead, they decided to work the phones and called around to several L.A.-area banks, but that proved to be a no-go, with once branch manager telling them they didn't have enough vault space.

Counting on their local bank in San Bernardino County to be willing to help, they began the tedious process of hauling the pennies out of the basement, which "took a whole day,” Reyes told KTLA.

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But their plans were dashed once again when their local bank declined to take the pennies.

Reyes and his family are impatient and don't feel up to another time-consuming project, so he has listed the coins on the resale app and website OfferUp, asking for $25,000, per the outlet.

They've had several offers so far, but Reyes said he plans to hold out for somebody to match their full asking price. “The value is in the uniqueness,” he insisted.