There’s an old idiom that says one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Or in this case, I guess we could change that up a bit and say one man’s trash is another person’s cash.
The story begins back in June 2019.
Four Scrapped Safes
It was probably a day like any other for the staff of Sackers Scrap Metal and Waste Recycling, in the town of Ipswich, England. They had four safes that had come into their yard about six weeks earlier, and they were just getting around to dealing with them.
Having safes come in for scrap metal wasn’t anything unusual, so it’s no surprise they sat there for so long. However, the company did say that,
“It is unusual for them to be filled with anything.”
Yard manager Kevin Harrington also added,
“We often get safes in and we tend to store them up as they are quite difficult to deal with.”
Three safes had already been opened, and they were using a mobile shear to open the last safe when the workers noticed something unusual.
A Treasure Revealed
Much to the shock of the staff, they noticed the last safe was stuffed full of coin bags and banknotes. A spokesperson for Sackers said that the hidden stash was mostly made up of old banknotes and legal tender.
She said,
“It had clearly been in there for many years as it was dusty and wet from being in the rain.”
Harrington, mentioned above, also stated,
“It had been in there a long while, the money was very dusty and we didn’t count it all but we guesstimate that there was £20,000 in there but not all legal tender anymore, which shows how long it had been left for.”
A Search for the Proper Owner
Sackers did all they could to find the rightful owner of the money.
Sackers’ marketing manager, Helen Crapnell, said they made an announcement about the find but despite some bogus claims, nothing came of it.
A search proved fruitless even though the money was handed over to the local police in hopes of reuniting the money with its owner. But a financial investigator for the Suffolk Police Department said there was no way of identifying the owner or finding out where the safe had come from.
The police kept the money for six months, allowing time for the money to be rightfully claimed, but that never happened.
Eventually, Sackers went to the magistrate’s court and laid claim to the money as the legal finder.
But while they were the finders, they didn’t intend to be the keepers.
Sackers Donates the Find to Charity
While the company would have been well within their rights to keep the money, that’s not what they did.
In early December they split the find between St Elizabeth Hospice and East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice.
Liz Baldwin, St Elizabeth Hospice’s spokesperson, said:
“We’re so pleased that they have decided to split the findings with St Elizabeth Hospice and EACH, it’s such a lovely surprise for us just before Christmas.”
And speaking on behalf of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice, Rachel Dally said,
“Sackers has been a valued supporter of ours over the years. We’re very grateful to hear of the company’s intention to make another generous donation. Thanks to the team for thinking of us.”
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
