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<\/p>\nWe\u2019ve all collected something at one point or another in our lives.<\/p>\n
If you collected all the pennies you could find for an entire month, how many do you think you\u2019d have?<\/p>\n
What about if you collected pennies for an entire year?<\/p>\n
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SOURCE:KRAY K NEWS\/YOUTUBE<\/p>\n
Now, consider how much money you would have if you collected pennies for 45 years.<\/p>\n
This man collected pennies for 45 years and blew his bank tellers away when he brought them in.<\/p>\n
Otha Anders is a teacher from the state of Louisiana.
\nWhen he began collecting coins in the late 1960s, it wasn\u2019t to amass any type of wealth, he just liked doing it.<\/p>\n
Even when the government began a program of paying $125 for every $100 of pennies turned in, he wasn\u2019t interested.<\/p>\n
He liked having the collection.<\/p>\n
Collecting pennies as an excuse to say a prayer.
\nAnders said that he began seeing pennies as a reminder to stop and say a prayer.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
SOURCE:KRAY K NEWS\/YOUTUBE<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I would see a penny when I\u2019m gassing up, on the ground, or in a store, it would be a reminder to stop right there and say a prayer,\u201d Anders said to ABC News. \u201cI never failed to do that. That\u2019s why they had so much value to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
At no point during all of his penny-collecting did Anders accept coins as a gift from anyone else.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I never allowed anyone, not even my wife nor children, to give me pennies without being compensated,\u201d he continued. \u201cI wanted the inner satisfaction that God and I acquired this collection.\u201d<\/p>\n
A reason to be thankful.
\nOver time this practice of stopping what he was doing and saying a prayer every time he saw a penny became important to Anders.<\/p>\n
He noticed that on days where he wasn\u2019t thankful enough for what he had, a penny would show up in his sights to remind him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI became convinced that spotting a lost or dropped penny was an additional God-given incentive reminding me to always be thankful. There have been days where I failed to pray and more often than not, a lost or dropped penny would show up to remind me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Filling up giant water jugs with pennies.
\nAnders filled big water jugs with the coins he collected.<\/p>\n
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SOURCE:KRAY K NEWS\/YOUTUBE<\/p>\n
He said at one point his goal was to fill up 5 giant water jugs but once he had done that, he felt the urge to keep going.<\/p>\n
He needed to go to the bank and turn them in or else he\u2019d never do it.<\/p>\n
At the time he finally went to the bank, he had filled 15 5-gallon jugs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to fill five five-gallon water jugs. That was the goal, but I couldn\u2019t stop. \u2026 If I hadn\u2019t turned them in yesterday, I was not going to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to the intrinsic value Anders found in collecting the pennies, they also added up to have significant financial value.<\/p>\n
After finding out his homeowner\u2019s insurance policy wouldn\u2019t cover his collection, he called the Origin Bank in Ruston, Louisiana, where he had been a customer for years.<\/p>\n
Anders let them know he would be coming in with a large number of pennies.<\/p>\n
They were happy to help but it was quite the undertaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe value his business, as we do all of our customers,\u201d said the bank\u2019s Vice President Jennie Cole. \u201cBut if we can help Anders with his endeavors, we are happy to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
The jars had to be opened with an ax and the whole process took over 5 hours.<\/p>\n