Ira Keys decided to cash in all the money he saved at the Prosperity Bank in Slaton. While it is normal for people to go to the bank when they need services such as cashing on their money, the case of Keys is rather unusual as he brought in 500 pounds of pennies. After bank employees counted his money, they announced that Keys was able to save 81,600 pennies or an equivalent of $816.
Keys started to save up all the money back when he was only 17 years old.
"Back when I started in '52, I didn't have a lot of money, so I saved pennies and I just kept saving them," said Keys.
Keys credits his habit of saving up money from his dad who taught him the importance of saving. He still remembers his dad's advice: "Whatever you do son, save your money." Since then, he just went on saving every penny that he gets his hand on.
Kari Lewis, a personal banker at Prosperity Bank, said that Keys' savings of 81,600 pennies was nothing like she's ever seen before.
"You see them on the ground and you're kind of like, 'Oh, I'm not picking that up," said Lewis. "But for him to collect it for years and years was pretty amazing."
It took more than one hour for the bank employees to finish counting Keys' penny collection which took him almost six and a half decades to amass.
"We ended up with $816 in pennies," continued Lewis. "Not a typical day at the bank at all."
Keys brought his savings to the bank on a pickup truck. He said that the coins' hefty weight almost broke the springs of the vehicle.
Though he had cashed up his 500-pound penny collection, Keys admitted that he hasn't really cashed all of his money as there is still a ton of them left in his home. He said he already knows what he will do with the money.
"I'm going to build a room divider and have pennies all in it, the shiny ones," adds Keys.
Keys, who is now 81 years old, is determined to keep on saving money and his piggy bank full.
"It's just a habit I've got into, and habits are hard to break sometimes," said Keys. "But I don't think I'll have this many when I cash them in again."
