Family Finds 1 Million Copper Pennies While Cleaning Out LA Home!

Having more money than you know what to do with is usually a good thing, but for one California family, it’s a little bit more complicated than that.

John Reyes, a realtor from the Inland Empire, is trying to figure out what to do with more than 1 million pennies he and his wife discovered in her father’s former home in Los Angeles.

The pennies were found in a crawlspace way back in the basement of the home last year while the family was cleaning out the home that once belonged to John’s father-in-law, Fritz.

At first, they stumbled upon some loose pennies, the paper rolls disintegrated from years of basement dwelling. Loose pennies led to crates, which led to boxes, which eventually led to the discovery of dozens of bank bags filled with an undetermined amount of pennies from decades ago.

They randomly selected three bags, grabbed multiple handfuls, and confirmed that the pennies were copper, not zinc, which the United States switched to in the 1980s.

They did some rough mathematics, weighing the bags of pennies and determining how much each bag held, and then stopped once they felt comfortable with an estimate: at least 1 million.

Next came the question that still rings true for Reyes and his wife’s family — what exactly do you do with a million pennies?

While there may be about 1 million pennies, it only takes one to up the value.  John called around to many banks but the banks didn’t want the coins.

John finally decided to resell all the coins on OfferUP, a popular resale app and website, asking for $25,000. If their estimate of 1 million pennies is accurate, that’s more than double the $10,000 value in normal currency.

The home was built in the early 1900s, and the family believes it was once used as a bed and breakfast.  John says they had intended to Reno the home and move in.