I found a five dollar bill at the Hollywood farmer’s market Sunday – but I didn’t pick it up.
The crumpled bill was next to bags of green, yellow, and red peppers. Was the real owner nearby? Would anybody see me if I grabbed the money? Should I loudly proclaim my luck and be the envy of the stall?
“Look!” said a person next to me. A long finger pointed at the bill.
I was too late. Someone else had spotted the bill. I backed out of the booth and continued my grocery shopping. On my way back to the car about 15 minutes later I returned to the booth…just to check.
GASP. The bill was still there. Nobody had come by and noticed a free floating five dollar bill?! Even the stall owner was oblivious. I guess everyone was busy looking for celebrities.
The bill was mine!
How lucky did I feel? I felt guilty, actually. But there was no way to find the right owner so it might as well be mine, I reasoned. I could have given it to the farmer, though…
To pay my luck forward and get the stolen money off my hands, I purchased a bag of overpriced, I mean, locally grown organic almonds. Compared to Trader Joe’s I got half as many for almost twice as much! But oh man, do they taste good. And my financial conscience is clear.
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UPDATE: Reader Christina left a comment worth sharing!
I once found $120 on the sidewalk one night. My friends and I waited about 45 minutes to see if anyone would come and no one did. No one came, so it covered a lot of Christmas shopping that year.
September 29th, 2009 at 10:02 am
You should have a “it all depends on the amount” vote
Small change I pick it up – I “make” money walking the dog every day!
Large bills (which has never happened to me) I would look for anyone around & ask if they dropped the money.
September 29th, 2009 at 10:44 am
I once found $120 on the sidewalk one night. My friends and I waited about 45 minutes to see if anyone would come and no one did. No one came, so it covered a lot of Christmas shopping that year.
September 29th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
What a find! The most I’ve ever found was $20.
September 29th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
My husband found a $100 bill on the sidewalk in Beverly Hills at a time that we were dead broke. We counted it as a blessing.
September 29th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
i would keep it its free money and youll spend it and help the economy and its like getting what you want at a discount or you can always donate it to charity and help others but charity begins at home
September 29th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
I taught High School for 10 years and brought this subject up a LOT… you’d be surprised how many people would NOT ever try to find the owner of $100, even though my supposition was that the money was dropped ON CAMPUS, so it was likely a parent or teacher was missing the money.
But $5 in a v. public place where tons of people you don’t know around you is a different story entirely! It might be days before it would be missed from someone’s wallet…
September 29th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
donate! I found $4 in quarters inside a ziploc bag while walking the doggie. Decided to donate the cash
September 29th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
If it’s possible to find an owner, I would — for example, someone left a tin of bills and coins in the laundry room of the apartment building I manage. I put up a vague note saying I’d found cash and that to claim it one must identify the approximate amount and the container/wrapping (if any).
Someone did claim it. If by the end of the year no one had, I would have dumped it into the vase where I put all found monies, and donated it to the food bank.
When I see people *drop* money, I call it to their attention.
But a dollar bill on the ground at the bus terminal? It’s mine. Well, it’s the food bank’s.
An essay I wrote for MSN Smart Spending has nearly 1,650,000 views — clearly this is an issue on which plenty of people have opinions.
http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/smartspending/search.aspx?q=%22see+a+penny%3f+pick+it+up!%22
September 29th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
I found a $100 bill only about a month ago on the sidewalk along Balboa just south of Lassen. No way of knowing who it belonged to.
Still have it.
September 29th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Thanks for sharing your post about picking up pennies. I remember months ago when that was causing a rage (in a good way)! I don’t pick up pennies, but I do make a point of using them instead of putting them in a jar that does nothing but collect dust.
September 29th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Many years ago my brother I were at Yankee Staduim, coming down the steps from buying hot dog, Lo and behold, there was a $100 dollar bill right in the middle of the steps. We checked out the people siting on both sides of the bill. They did not see it and they were not looking through their wallets or pockets, my brother jumped down with both feet and covered the bill. We brought some neat Yankee items, when we got home, my mother asked “Where did you get money for that stuff?” and she was not smiling, I said, pointing to my brother, “Bobby found money at the game, and shared it with me”. “Did you look to see if anybody had lost it?” mom asked. Yes..we both nodded. Mom said OK, “give me the change”. “That’s too much money for you boys, you’ll only get in trouble”. And that is my story about finding money. But I still pick up any money I see on the ground, and always check out the people around me.
September 29th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Seems that since it was in the pepper stall at a farmer’s market, it would belong to the farmer of the stall…and I would have given it to him. But, if I find a bill on the ground and no one is around, then I would consider it “found money” and keep it. Did you consider that you were part of a psych project and most likely observed?
September 30th, 2009 at 8:27 am
The most I’ve found $645 once, turned it in. There was some identifiying receipt with it;
I once lost $345, and backtracked and found it, but it could have been picked up by anyone.
What goes around, comes around.
September 30th, 2009 at 11:46 am
When our son was a teenager he and his buddy found a wallet with $l00 bill in it. He came home and told us. my husband was a police officer. we called the person– she came over to the house and gave them a reward (I think $20). This happened around Christmas time and it was her Christmas money to buy presents. Today our son is a Sgt. on the police department. we think we did a great job in raising him — Eileen
October 1st, 2009 at 11:28 am
i found $140 in twenties once in a meijer parking lot. no joke. picked it right up and put it my pocket as i was walking into the store. didn’t even look around and draw any attention to myself.
October 1st, 2009 at 11:35 am
I always pick up coins lying on the ground, and put them in a container to be used for charitable donations when they reach a certain amount. If I find coins in a store, I turn them in to the closest cashier. Large amounts I turn in (with my name, in case no one claims the money), but money lying out in the open on a street is “found” money, and fair game for anyone. In other words: find the owner if possible; otherwise it’s yours!
October 1st, 2009 at 1:50 pm
My husband and I once found $50 at a massive outdoors concert in Atlanta. There would have been no way to determine who the money belonged to as it was in a high traffic area next to a set of vendor stalls. So we used the money to buy souvenirs at the time, which is what the money would probably have been used for in the first place, and when we got home, we added $50 to our usual giving at church as thanks for our find.
October 1st, 2009 at 8:50 pm
I consider found small amounts of found money, (under $20) the universe’s way of telling me I deserve a small treat. But, I always take half of the money and find a way to pay it forward. With five dollars, I can buy a cup of coffee for me and someone else. Or grab a gift card from a fast food place to give to homeless person. Heck, even with one dollar you could get a couple of candy bars, and leave one in the mailbox for the mailperson. Little surprises are the best.
October 2nd, 2009 at 8:31 am
found $100.00 bill at a show in NY
told a rep and gave them our phone #
they called when the show closed
no one had come fowrard
felt very lucky
we put it into the poor box at church
October 2nd, 2009 at 9:43 am
While whitewater rafting with my brother in law ,he lost a wallet with over $400 in it. 3 hours later standing by his car were 2 young men waitng for us with the wallet and all of the money. He gave them most of the money for their honesty.
October 7th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
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