Posted on 06/02/2024 12:37:15 PM PDT by algore
A New York City couple got their hands on about $100,000 in cash from a safe they pulled up from a lake while 'magnet fishing' in Corona Park.
To pull of this unique feat, James Kane and Barbie Agostini attached a neodymium magnet - which go for as little as $21.99 on Amazon - to a fishing rod and reeled the old safe out from the depths of the water.
And at first, it was a mundane discovery because as Kane told NY1: 'We have found plenty of safes before, this is just what a magnet fisher does.'
The couple explained that the safes they find are usually empty, save for some plastic baggies that once held cash. But after they wrenched this one open, it became clear that they'd stumbled on quite the score.
'We pulled it out and there were two stacks of freaking hundreds. Big stacks,' Kane said.
Agostini thought Kane was joking at first, but when she saw the bills inside plastic baggies, she said she 'lost it.'
Unfortunately for them, water did manage to work its way inside the baggies and damage the hundred dollar bills.
It's unclear if they'll be able to cash in the bills, but there is a chance that the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing will redeem their money.
If more than 50 percent of the currency is identifiable, a lawful holder of the notes 'may receive a redemption at full value,' according to the BEP website.
Kane told NY 1 that he's always wanted to become 'a treasure hunter,' and when he and Agostini were bored during the pandemic, they decided to take up magnet fishing.
'We call it the poor man's treasure hunting,' Kane said.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
why the hell did they tell anybody? I find money and I am keeping my mouth shut
I remember the Edmonds scientific catalogs, and wanting one of those magnets too.
They had a bunch of what seemed like cool stuff.
That was the golden age of catalogues. I miss it
Those hundreds are not terribly old. The Treasury had already started redesigning the 100s.
I still have the magnet and use it on occasion with my children. We don’t find as much - either because of where we fish now or perhaps more people magnet fish. We’ve never found safes nor money though we do find modern coins with a metal detector.
Sounds like they found a lockbox not a real safe.
“”””Sounds like they found a lockbox not a real safe.””””
That is what I thought, they were saying “safes” which would be weird, they probably meant they find old lockboxes, once they get old and rusty people don’t want them around when they are throwing out old junk, or upgrading to a fire resistant box or little safe.
HA.! I just recently bought my son and I some fishing magnets.. I was fooling around with it and got it too close to my head and suck my hearing aid out of my ear and messed it up bad.! But, I got it back last Wednesday and it’s working better then ever.. :)
Unless they happen to be dimOcraps.
Keep it real out there on the hunt for treasure.
NYC? Fat Alvin will certainly configure a law to seize the property!
I would put the face of any President on Mt Rushmore if they stopped Civil Forfeiture without due process! )verdict signed sealed delivered after all appeals exhausted.)
But he’s seen.
OK. Tell them you found ONE coin. See what they do. Go forward from what happens there. If you get to keep it, great.
if they were smart, they’d have kept their mouths shut about it.
When did plastic zip lock baggies originate?
Unfortunately I’ve never been in the position of finding anything more valuable than a few flint arrowheads and “Indian money”!
But destroying a rare coin seems dumb.
Where would one pawn melted down gold?
Ziplocs were invented in 1968. According to Wikipedia.
My reaction....”Why are we hearing about this?”
The IRS loves big-mouthed braggarts...
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