00:00Welcome back, friends. Today, we're diving into a story that reminds us how the smallest things in life can hold
00:07the greatest meaning.
00:09Imagine this. A man who spent 45 years collecting pennies, not out of greed, but as an act of faith
00:17and gratitude.
00:18What started as a simple habit turned into something extraordinary, leaving even him surprised by the outcome.
00:25If you've ever wondered whether patience and consistency truly pay off, this is a tale you won't want to miss.
00:32So settle in, because sometimes all it takes is one penny to change everything.
00:37And who saved pennies for 45 years? Cash is out.
00:4173-year-old O. Anders worked as a supervisor on the Jackson School Board.
00:46He watched over in-school suspended children and absolutely loved his job, and the kids seemed to love him too.
00:52Anders was a family man with a loving wife and children who supported his every move, even though one particular
01:00hobby of his raised a few eyebrows.
01:03It would be again as something fun turned to into a full-blown obsession and an all-consuming hobby, I
01:10became convinced.
01:11That spotting a lost or dropped penny was an additional God-given incentive reminding me to always be thankful, said
01:19Anders.
01:21There have been days where I failed to pray, and more often than not, a lost or dropped penny would
01:27show up to remind me.
01:28Where many people think of wishing on a penny, O.A. Anders thinks of praying on a penny.
01:34He had always been a religious man, and his faith had grown stronger as the years passed.
01:39When Anders picked up his very first penny, he had no idea that he'd continue picking them up.
01:45For 45 years, but once his penny pile began to grow, he became more and more obsessed.
01:52So compelling was his idea that pennies represented a God-given gift that he ultimately decided to stop spending pennies
01:59himself.
02:00Every penny he had, he kept.
02:02But that's not all.
02:03He also always made sure that whenever he made a purchase with cash, his change contained at least three to
02:10four pennies.
02:11To him, it was a small and simple quirky habit.
02:14But over time, it didn't look so small anymore.
02:17All of his friends and family got so used to him behaving this way around pennies that they didn't even
02:22see it as odd anymore.
02:23But the amount he eventually managed to collect was staggering.
02:27Get!
02:28I would never spend a penny, Anders said.
02:31I would break a dollar before giving up a penny.
02:33He was a man on a mission, and when his students at school found out about his strange fascination, they
02:40wanted to help.
02:41They'd often come to his class with a handful of pennies to give to him.
02:45But Anders had principles.
02:47I never allowed anyone, not even my wife nor children, to give me pennies without being compensated, he said.
02:54Though he paid them for pennies, Anders continued to collect his pennies for 45 years until he successfully filled 15
03:02five-gallon plastic water jugs.
03:04There were simply too many to count, so Anders could only guess that his collection contained hundreds of thousands of
03:11pennies.
03:12But really, he had no idea.
03:14But now, he was about to find out.
03:17And as the years passed, Anders continued to collect his pennies until he successfully filled 15 five-gallon plastic water
03:27jugs with nothing but pennies.
03:29He would have continued to keep them and collect more if it wasn't for one problem that he encountered when
03:37he renewed his home affairs.
03:39It was a problem that left him devastated.
03:41If Anders had it his way, he would have kept his collection and continued to pick up pennies for many
03:48years to come.
03:49But life would throw him a curveball.
03:52And since Anders could have collected a small fortune, he made it a point to have his collection covered under
03:58his house insurance.
04:00But when he renewed it, they turned him away.
04:03And they weren't the only establishment to do so.
04:06Anders' new home insurance didn't cover his penny collection, so he reluctantly decided it was time to visit the bank,
04:13in cash in his most prized possession.
04:16Anders had no idea how much money his collection would amount to.
04:20B.
04:21But as he speculated, he remembered reading about a coin collection that resulted in a fortune for the owner.
04:27Although Andrew's collection contains mostly modern pennies, it's crazy to think that if he held on to those coins long
04:34enough, they'd soon bring him a fortune as big as a million dollars.
04:39That's what happened to the owner of a 1943 S Lincoln wheat penny.
04:43An error in the coin made it extremely valuable.
04:46And its value could only keep growing over time.
04:49But why?
04:50It has long been said that time is the most valuable commodity.
04:54That's especially true when it comes to coins, but only certain kinds of coins.
05:00Specifically, coins made of precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and even copper fluctuate in value over time, but
05:10generally become more valuable.
05:12The same with coins that hold an error.
05:15However, that's not true for all coins.
05:18Coins made of base metals such as aluminum have very little worth.
05:22Their worth is even less still if the government issuing the coins no longer exists.
05:28But what about Anders' coins?
05:30Which side of value did they fall under?
05:33Although Anders didn't have time on his side, he did have volume.
05:38And with hundreds of thousands of coins, perhaps one had a valuable error.
05:43To get the pennies to the Ruston or Regina bank in Ruston, Louisiana, Anders needed help.
05:50He ended up getting a couple of his friends to help move the five-gallon jugs full of pennies into
05:56his truck and then into the bank.
05:58They were much heavier than you'd think.
06:00And not to mention there were 15 of them.
06:03The bank employees looked at Anders rolling his containers in on dollies and stared at him in utter confusion.
06:10Their eyes popped as they took in the sight of the sheer amount of pennies.
06:15Anders worried they would turn him away.
06:18He approached the questionable expression behind the desk and asked them to cash his pennies in.
06:24How many? The woman asked.
06:27Bank Vice President Jenny.
06:29Cole told reporters that it was not a typical day at the bank when Anders rolled in with his collection
06:36of pennies on a dolly.
06:38I'm not sure exactly, Anders said.
06:41I would guesstimate about half a million pennies.
06:44The woman stared at him in disbelief.
06:47And you think we have the time to count half a million pennies for you?
06:51She laughed.
06:52Anders sheepishly laughed with her before pleading to her again.
06:56I know it's a crazy amount.
06:58But this is a dear collection of mine that I need to cash out.
07:02Believe me, if I had in my way, I'd keep these pennies forever.
07:06The woman gave Anders a long look before calling her manager.
07:10How would they be able to count all these pennies?
07:13But when they finally did, the actual amount Anders had saved all these years was incredible.
07:19When the manager walked out to see who was causing all the ruckus, his face lit up at the sight
07:24of Anders.
07:25As it turns out, he knew Anders quite well.
07:28Anders was a longtime loyal customer who never gave them any problems.
07:32So immediately, the manager knew he wanted to help him.
07:36We value.
07:36His business is we do all of our customers, he said.
07:40But if we can help Anders with his endeavors, we are happy to do so.
07:44Anders and his friends hauled in the containers one by one.
07:48Employees gathered to see the first five-gallon container being counted.
07:52It was by far the most exciting thing that had happened at the bank in a while.
07:57The plastic jugs were hacked open by an axe and hammer.
08:00It took at least five hours to process his pennies through a coin-counting machine until the sum was revealed.
08:07M. Sir Anders saved up an incredible 5,136.
08:1314 through collecting pennies for 45 years.
08:16For anyone who's trying to work it out, that S4.4.14 per year,
08:22Anders was able to collect by picking up dirty old pennies left for gone on the side of a street.
08:27But what was he going to do with his saved money?
08:29Anders was able to put his money to good use and spend it on a dental bill that had just
08:34been issued to him.
08:35It was a happy coincidence that he found himself with more money just as an expensive bill landed in his
08:41lap.
08:42But he still had some.
08:44Cash left over, which he put towards a family trip and church donations.
08:49Anders collected pennies not as a sign of greed, but as a symbol of faith that he was being looked
08:55after by the man upstairs,
08:57the universe, the penny gods, or whatever you might believe in.
09:00His quirky hobby turned out to be a brilliant reminder of how much little things matter.
09:06Who would have thought a penny a day could someday bring you $5,000?
09:11It seems like Anders' steady patience and consistent well-wishing has paid off for him.
09:16The extra bonus of income came just in time for him to pay a medical bill.
09:23It is said that the world works in mysterious ways,
09:26and for O.A. Anders and the result of his penny collection, that motto is certainly true.
