After 45 years of collecting, man cashes in more than 500,000 pennies

Starting in the 1970s, if Otha Anders saw a penny, he would pick it up, say a quick prayer of thanks, and place it in a five-gallon water jug. Year after year, the Louisiana teacher watched as his collection grew, until finally on Tuesday, he turned in more than half a million pennies and was given $5,136 cash in return.

The 73-year-old stopped collecting because his homeowner's insurance policy no longer covered his prized pennies. "If I hadn't turned them in yesterday, I was not going to stop," he told ABC News. From his first penny to his last, Anders said he would always take a moment after picking the coin up to "stop right there and say a prayer. I never failed to do that. That's why they had so much value to me."

Eventually, Anders filled up 15 five-gallon containers, collecting so many pennies that it took Origin Bank in Ruston, Louisiana, employees five hours to sort and process them all. Anders called the bank in advance to let them know he was coming in with pounds of pennies, but senior vice president Ryan Kilpatrick told ABC News it was still "shocking, for sure." Anders plans on using the money he received to pay for a recent dental bill. Catherine Garcia

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