After 65 years of saving, an 81-year-old Slaton man has deposited $816 worth of pennies at Prosperity Bank.

 

Ira Keys hasn't spent a penny since he was 17 years old, because of advice his father gave him.

 

"He says, 'Whatever you do son, save your money,'" Keys said. "Back when I started in '52, I didn't have a lot of money, so I saved pennies and I just kept saving them."

 

The collection weighed in at about 500 pounds.

 

"I like to have broke the springs on that little-ole pickup," Keys said.

 

 

Slaton man deposits 500 pounds of pennies - NBC12 - WWBT - Richmond, VA News On Your Side

$816.00?????

 

That's it????? I hate pennies.

No doubt! All those years, all those pennies and for what?!

I would think there would be some collectible coins in there.

Might have something to do with my parents having been brought up during the depression and their ways rubbing off onto me, but I've never once passed up a penny that I've seen laying in the street or on the sidewalk.

 

I used to collect pop bottles too as a kid, first at 2 cents, then a nickel, and eventually a dime. Always showed my Dad what I had earned by doing so, and he always applauded the effort.

 

Was really devastated when I cashed in a bunch of bottles at 5 cents apiece and the next week the value had risen to 10. If I had only known and had just waited, I could've doubled my money. Ugh.

 

Dude in my building is forever leaving change in the dryer, or right in front of it that has fallen out of his pants. I earn at least anywhere from a dime to a quarter every time I do my laundry. He's not blind or hard of hearing, he's just lazy. I figure that it's my payment for taking the lint out of the lint guard that he's also too lazy to do.

 

It may not seem like much, or really ever amount to much, but if I see a coin on the ground, it's in my pocket in a flash.

 

I'll never know for sure how much in a lifetime I've picked up, but it just goes against the grain for me to ever pass it up, and I'm pretty sure from my upbringing that if I had it would be considered a sin.

From experience, there are a round about 50.00 in a gallon milk jug of pennies.

Wow...he saved his entire life and it was $816. SMH.

Reminds me of the ole saying, "Scared money don't make money."

 

Had he taken some risk & invested the money, he'd have accumulated more than $816 over the last 50 years.

Reminds me of the ole saying, "Scared money don't make money."

 

Had he taken some risk & invested the money, he'd have accumulated more than $816 over the last 50 years.

 

Yep. The guy saved about $1.04 a month for 65 years. At just 7% interest he would have $16,568.88 today.

I'm guessing the man has also done his fair share of investing in addition to saving the pennies. It often goes hand in hand with someone who is disciplined.

It took employees over an hour to count the collection of about 81,600 pennies.

 

I'm surprised they didn't hand him 1,632 penny rolls and tell him to bring them back.