An Oregon man was surprised to discover how much he had saved after emptying the piggy bank he had been putting his loose change into for the past decade.
Portland resident Eli Piatt told Newsweek that over the years he has “always” made a point of putting any coins he collected into his Star Wars-themed piggy back. He had been doing so for “a little over 10 years” until he was recently left with little choice but to cash-in.
“I couldn’t fit anymore change into it,” he said. Piatt decided to deposit the contents into a Coinstar machine, a coin counter kiosk designed to convert loose change into either paper currency, gift cards or charitable donations.
After a decade of putting any change he had to hand into the piggy bank, Piatt knew he had saved a decent amount. However, even he was caught off guard by the final total. “I was pretty surprised by how much was in there,” Piatt said.
“A penny saved is a penny earned,” the saying goes. But many Americans wouldn’t even bend down to pick up a penny in the street if they saw it. In 2024, a YouGov survey of nearly 3,000 U.S. adults found just 50 percent of respondents would stop to pick a penny up in the street in the event they came across one.
Piatt’s example could have some reassessing that decision though. Piatt accumulated 801 pennies, 928 nickels, 1,202 dimes, 2,002 quarters, 1 half dollar and 11 dollars over the course of his decade-long coin-saving efforts.
That resulted in a total of $686.61 which, minus a $89.16 processing fee, left Piatt with $597.45 in his pocked.
Piatt took to Threads, posting under the handle @jsun4hees, to reveal how much he had earned. “It took 10 years, but I finally filled my Star Wars piggy bank. Just cashed it in,” he wrote alongside the post.
Piatt hadn’t planned on sharing his earnings on such a big platform. “I originally posted it to Facebook to show a few friends, but I forgot my Facebook and Threads are connected, so I posted there by accident,” he said.
However, it proved a popular post, earning over 1,600 likes and more than 260 comments.
“Good choice,” one fellow Threads user commented. “I remember saving my coins and getting $200 but it took me only like six months as I was a server and a lot of people tipped coins…I spent that money and was like damn shoulda saved it.”
Another joked “it’s just enough to buy a Lego Death Star! Or a week’s worth of food.”
Some suggested Piatt would have been better off taking the money to the bank and avoiding the processing fee.
“Next time, roll your coins and take it to a bank,” one user said. “You gave a machine $90 to count your coins for you,” another wrote, with a third adding: “Ask the bank for coin wrappers. They’re free. Roll them yourself. Save $89.”
Piatt was not all that bothered at the criticism from those pointing this out though. Instead, he’s been too busy putting the money towards his favorite hobby. “I collect vinyl records so I have bought a few of those,” he said.
He kept the change too, of course.