"Finders keepers?" No, Finders GIVERS: 2018's Found Money Charity Report!

Unless you live a strictly cashless life, you've probably got a small jar or jug (maybe even an actual actual piggy bank) where you chuck your pocket change at the end of the day. If, like me, you rely on coin-operated laundry machines, you probably have two: one for quarters, and one for the rest.

I, on the other hand, have three: for the past twenty-odd years I've kept an additional receptacle, dedicated entirely to money that I unexpectedly come across while stumbling my way through life, which I tabulate at the dawn of the new year and donate to charity.

Since 2011, I've been posting the results here, and encouraging friends and family to make a matching donation to the Sean McGrath Fund at Princeton Area Community Foundation, a memorial that I co-founded, and which has distributed nearly $50,000 to a wide range of health and humanitarian nonprofits over the past fifteen years. 

This year I'm making a found money donation of $69.31--and hoping you will do the same (see donation details below)!

So how did I come across almost seventy free bucks this year? Found money comes in a several varieties, but let's start with the obvious; actual U.S. currency that I plucked from sidewalks, subway platforms, and floors throughout the year, 231 pieces in all:

10.00 x 1 = $10.00

1.00 x 2 = $2.00

.25 x 9 = $2.25

.10 x 29 = $2.90

.05 x 20 = $1.00

.01 x 170 - $1.70

There's also foreign currency, which I used to find quite frequently here in New York City, but which has been pretty rare the past few years. In years past, I've come across moolah from over a dozen countries, but all I found this year was a five Euro piece (worth $0.06). However, that's an improvement over the previous year, when found bupkes (which, in case you're unfamiliar with Yiddish, isn't a currency; it's an expression).

Another common way to come across lost dollars and cents in NYC is by unlocking the value of forfeited MetroCards. Whether lost or discarded for having less than a ride's worth of value, I adopted eight cards totaling $11.46 this year (easily transferred to my main pay-as-you-go transit card), as well as one unlimited ride card, which I was able to use for six subway trips before it expired, equating to $16.50 in found value. Add to that two disused cards worth a combined $19.48 that my friend Greg donated when I visited him in Philly, and this year's value of found MetroCards comes to $47.44.

And a new addition to this year's found money charity tally actually comes from nonprofit organizations: for many years, some have sent direct mail appeals which include a self-addressed stamped envelope, which renders the stamp useless if I chose to make an online donation, or opted not to donate at all. This year, perhaps for just that reason, I noticed a new trend, with some groups paper clipping a stamp to the return envelope instead of affixing it. Receiving four of those in over the course of the year adds another $1.96 to the kitty...

...which brings 2018's total to the aforementioned $69.31, the second-highest total since I've been tracking detailed results, and nearly triple the size of last year's pool!

2011 - $49.23       2012 - $45.65       2013 - $17.55
2014 - $63.13       2015 - $113.51     2016 - $43.38       2017 - $23.58

Over the eight years listed above, this little annual hobby has resulted in over $400 in pre-matched dollars; with matches from friends, that has been boosted to well over $1000, which has supported charity initiatives across the country and around the world.

I hope you'll join me by pitching in some of your own virtual coin and cash! All you have to do is click the fourth button on the PACF site ("Support a specific fund") and make sure you specify "Sean McGrath Fund" in your note.

Before I wrap up, I'll leave you with a look at some of the more battle scarred coins, weathered either by time, or--for those that spent winter beneath snow and salts--literally by weather.

Whether or not you contribute a few dollars to the Sean McGrath Fund, I hope you've been inspired to track the spare change that you find throughout 2019, and to donate the total to your favorite charity next year! You might be surprised at what you'll find.

Thank you for reading, for donating, and for all the little things you do to help change the world!