What is the largest amount of money you have ever found?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

Thanks for the topic, Mean Mr. Mustard, finding money is a subject I often ask people about IRL. Most people tell me they’ve found either nothing, a few coins, or just a lone $5 or $10 note.

I’m still yet to find a large amount, but over the years I’ve picked up the following:

$50 on a shop floor. My mom stole it off me when I showed it to her. I was 9, and $50 was a large amount in those days.

$20 in a school playground. I handed that in to a teacher.

$20 x 2 in a park, chewed up by a lawnmower. I stuck them back together and exchanged them at a bank.

$50 by the side of the road. I was broke, so I used it to buy food.

$50 on the floor of a taxi. I didn’t need it, so gave it to the driver.

$50 in the gutter. Again, I was broke, so…yay!

$50 on another shop floor. Again, broke. Again, Yay! Food!

$5 under a tree. I left it there as I didn’t need it.

$10 under a different tree. I picked it up and gave it to a homeless person down the street.

$5 on the floor at work. Found the owner.

$20 on the floor at work. Again, found the owner.

$5 in a carpark. Broke again, so I took that one.

$20 in the middle of a main road. I didn’t really need it, so left it there.

That’s just the notes. Coins are everywhere around here. I have a decent job these days, so I try to repay a bit back into the free range money pool. I’ll often just leave stacks of change in public places. Hopefully people leave it for those that actually need it.

22

We were hiking up a “mountain” by Lotterie Farm in St Martin. We pick up any trash we find along the way. I picked up a wad of cash. They were Euros, rubber banded together. Roughly €800.

Hiking back down, we figured we’d ask around. Halfway back we saw a young couple obviously looking for something. I asked how much they lost and they told me. Returning their vacation funds was one of he high points of that trip.

23

about $500 in $50 notes outside a shopping centre, handed it in

a few days later i found a $10… have found a couple of $20s, a $50 and a few others

24

Twice found amounts over $1000 while working at a thrift store. One was when I was sorting “wares” (as opposed to clothing). A nice set of kitchen canisters was in a box, and so I took them aside to nest together for pricing. The smallest canister was heavier than it should have been, and upon opening, I found multiple wads of $100 and $20 bills. I took it to the manager’s office, as we had no idea what donor had dropped it off. Luckily for the donor, someone in his home remembered the cash cache, and showed up at the donation door within an hour. “Did you guys find a set of kitchen canisters?!?!” Gave it back to him.

The other was a wallet I found in the parking lot after the store had closed, with a bit over a thousand in cash. This time, with ID found in the wallet, I was able to call the guy from a pay phone and tell him I’d found it. He showed up, yelled at me “You shouldn’t have had this!,” snatched it out of my hand, then pulled the money out and counted it. Then recounted it. Then he glared at me and asked how much I’d taken. “None.” “Bullshit!” It went back and forth, and he ended up calling the police :rolleyes: Cops showed up, he admitted he had no idea how much he’d had in the wallet, but he was sure I had taken some, since I worked at a thrift store. Cops said something like “If he wanted to take your money, he’d have kept it and not called you to return the wallet.”

Most ever found that I kept were hundred dollar bills a few times. One laying in the grass, wet with dew, at my apartment complex. Another time, I walked up to a register where a few people were standing. I believe nothing was on the floor when I walked up. Looked down as the guy in front as checking out, saw a $100 bill. Picked it up and asked the people assembled if any of them dropped it. Not one of them claimed it as theirs, and one guy happily said “I guess it’s yours now!” I still think it had to have been one of the customers’ money, and was also surprised that none of them just immediately said “yeah!” I was basically standing there offering to hand them $100, and none took it.

25

Hundred dollar bill on the sidewalk and another hundred in the trashcan of a mall’s food court.

26

Twice in my life, I’ve found a $10 bill.

That’s the most money I’ve ever found, if you don’t count the time I found $60 of my own money in my jacket pocket.

27

During a scuba dive I found a $10 bill poking out of the sand about 60ft down.

28

When I was broke and in College I found a $50 in a parking lot. It was in December and I felt so guilty about pocketing it, even though realistically there was no way to find the owner, I spent it all on gifts.

29

$500 cash plus credit cards, ID etc in a wallet that I found on the floor of the mens toilet at work. I knew the guy so I just dropped it back to him at his desk rather than handing it in to reception. He didn’t know he’d dropped it. The cash was his mortgage repayment for the month.

30

I found a sad-looking $20 in the snow a few years ago, and I kept it.

I also found my own $50 when I was cleaning out a desk and checked a very old wallet before tossing it into the Goodwill pile. Must have been a birthday present from years ago, since I never have $50s around.

31

C’mon.
mmm

32

I had just moved into a new apartment and there was a bunch of junk leftover from several previous tenants, which was stuffed in the attic. I went through it and found two 1000 peso bills. Netted me about $150 after converting it.

33

I found a wallet with fifty dollars in it once when I was a kid. It had ID in it so I was able to return it to its owner.

Also when I was a kid, my sister and I were walking to the store and found a five dollar bill on the street. We split it.

34

$300 (2 x $100; 2 x $50 bills)

It was in the gutter on a corner in Alexandria, Virginia. I picked up the money, and looked around to see if anyone was frantically searching for it. There was no-one in sight. It was a neighborhood with residences and some businesses, and i wouldn’t have had the first clue where to look for the owner, so i pocketed it and went on my way.

I also found about $45, along with a credit card and a drivers license, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The owner was from Kentucky, so i assumed she was a tourist who had dropped the stuff. I mailed it all back to her, and received a very nice thankyou card in return.

35

A few years back the spouse and I were going to the ATM to get lunch money and I noticed several bills lying around on the ground. We ran around picking them up–they were all crisp $20 bills, obviously having come out of one of the ATMs. I don’t remember how many there were, but probably a couple of hundred dollars. We took them inside the bank and told one of the tellers what had happened. Never heard anything back, but even if we’d been inclined to keep the money we knew it was a bad idea since there were cameras all around (we wouldn’t have kept it anyway).

In college when we were both very poor (end of the week, still waiting for our weekly money from the 'rents) we found a $20 bill in the gutter while walking down the street. We treated ourselves to ice cream sundaes and spent the rest on food. (This was in the early 80s, so you could actually buy a couple of sundaes and food with $20!)

36

I went into a gas station store to use the ATM and found $100 sitting in the bill dispenser. I was the only customer in the store. I took the money up to the clerk behind the counter, told him where I’d found it, and held it out to him. At first, he looked at me like I was crazy. “They might come back for it,” I said. He took it and I left.

37

Found a One Million dollar bill with Bill Clinton’s picture on it. Obviously a joke, but pretty realistic looking. I gave it to a friend to get change for the bar’s quarters-only jukebox. The bartender/owner threw a fit, threatening to call the cops on us and telling us to get the fuck out.

38

Living in NYC, back before the days of ATM, I had gone out Sunday night and came home and had spent every penny I had - forgetting I needed subway fare to get to work the next day.
I called in sick - what the hell, had to go to the bank anyway and they didn’t open until 9:00 and I was supposed to be at work at 8:00.
On the way to the bank to get $20, I saw a white envelope on the side of the street, sort of leaning against the gutter. It was a thick, clean white envelope so I picked it up. There was $500 in crisp new 20 dollar bills! This was probably two weeks salary for me!
There was no name or anything else inside, so I kept it. Had a great day roaming around the city, bought some boots, ate well, hit a bar and went home quite happy.
More recently, at a locals casino, my SO and I saw a wallet someone had dropped under a chair. I picked it up and could tell there was lots and lots of cash in it, but took it to the security guard station and turned it in.

39

Like most, I found a $20 bill on a sidewalk once. When I was a kid and collecting coins, I saw something glimmer in a mud puddle. I picked up a 1909 S VDB penny. I wish I’d kept it, as they sell now for $200-$500 bucks in decent condition.

40

About 2 years ago at dawn, while walking my dog I found a 50 dollar bill. If I could have figured out any way at all to return it to its rightful owner, I would have. But no matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t figure a way to discover the owner. I kept it.