The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 40, September 18, 2005, Article 21

SINGED QUARTERS SPILL ONTO ROADWAY

Len Augsburger alerted us to a September 14th Associated
Press story about a truckload of spilled coins in Alabama:

"A truck carrying tons of quarters caught fire Tuesday and
spilled most of them on a highway, where workers used heavy
equipment, shovels and buckets to scoop up the singed coins.

The driver said the truck carried 39,000 pounds of new Kansas
quarters, part of the U.S. Mint's state coin series, that were
worth some $800,000, said Police Chief Michael Putnam.

The rear of the armored truck bound for Birmingham from the
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, mint caught fire in the pre-dawn
hours on Interstate 59 in northeast Alabama, Putnam said.

"It's kind of a surprise when you pull up on a fire call at 2:30
in the morning on the interstate, and there are armed guards
around the fire," he said."

Jim Starr Jr., a truck rider armed with a handgun for protection,
said a grease fire ignited a rear tire, sparking a larger blaze that
destroyed the trailer. Putnam said the coins were on metal
pallets in bags that burned, spilling the quarters on the road."

To read the full story on CNN, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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