Home Improvement Jackpot!

By: Nic Dimond

Over the past two years, I’ve been engaged in the most horrible home improvement project known to man. Yes, I decided to strip and refinish all of the wood in the hallway and living room of our floor of the 1910 brick three-flat in Edgewater Beach where we live. To make a long, noxious, chemical-laden story short, in order to strip and refinish the bookcases alongside the fireplace, it was necessary to partially dismantle some of the pieces.

As I was doing so, tucked into a deep corner I found an old tobacco tin. Being in the midst of the filthy project, I just set it aside in the basement and didn’t think much more about it. Several months later, a friend who was borrowing some tools noticed the tin and asked what’s in it. Now with clean hands, I opened it. To our surprise there was a small wad of five, ten, and twenty dollar bills plus one for fifty dollars, for a total of $290! The most recent bill was dated 1934.

I believe, adjusted for inflation, this would be around $6,000 today… But, alas, it didn’t earn interest.