The E-Sylum:  Volume 5, Number 3, January 20, 2002, Article 14

MONEY LAUNDERING IN TEXAS

  From an article on the AP wire datelined Lubbock, TX,
  January 15, 2002:

  "To Robert Massengale, the job is hardly small change. The
  retired city employee has taken on the task of separating dirt
  and debris from about 7.6 million pennies piled high in a
  warehouse.

  The new copper coins spilled out of a tractor-trailer during a
  traffic accident on October 4 as they were being transported
  from the U.S. Mint in Denver to San Antonio.

  Massengale was hired by an insurance company to clean the
  pennies so they can be put into circulation.

  After the truck overturned, heavy equipment was called to
  scoop up the pennies. It was raining that day, so a large
  amount of dirt and mud was picked up along with the coins,
  Massengale told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal for its
  Monday editions.

  It took nine fully loaded dump trucks to bring the pennies
  to Lubbock, Massengale said.

  "I knew it was an unusual situation, and all I could say at the
  time is that I'd go out and look at it," Massengale said. "Once
  I took a look at it, I decided I would try to do something
  with it."

  Massengale is using large screens to sift the pennies from the
  dirt. The pennies will then need to be cleaned, possibly with
  an acid wash. Massengale hopes to finish the job within 60
  days.

  "I hope we can find somebody to take them in bulk rather
  than having to roll all of them" into 50-cent packs, he said."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization 
promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor 
at this address: whomren@coinlibrary.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum