When Otha Anders walked into the bank with a dolly full of heavy water jugs, everyone stopped to look. The sound of thousands of pennies rattling inside was impossible to ignore.
Anders, a longtime school board supervisor in Jackson, was well-known in his community. Students who had been suspended often spent time with him, and many grew fond of his steady guidance. But outside of work and family life, Anders had a very unusual hobby—collecting pennies.
What began as a small habit eventually became a lifelong passion. For Anders, each penny wasn’t just spare change; it was a reminder of gratitude. He believed that every time he found one, it was a sign to stop and be thankful. “I became convinced that spotting a lost or dropped penny was an additional God-given incentive reminding me to always be thankful,” he explained in an interview. Over the years, he even noticed that on days he forgot to pray, he often stumbled upon a penny, which he took as a gentle reminder.
For 45 years, Anders collected pennies and stored them in large five-gallon water jugs. By the time he decided to cash them in, he had filled dozens of them.
When he arrived at the bank, employees were both amused and amazed. It took hours to break the coins out of the jugs with hammers and axes before running them through the counting machines. After nearly five hours of effort, the final total came in: $5,136.14 in pennies.
That averages out to just over $114 per year—proof that even the smallest coins can add up over time. While some joked that it was only enough for a used car, Anders was grateful.
For Anders, the experience wasn’t just about the money. It was about the message behind each coin—that gratitude, no matter how small, adds up to something meaningful over time.
