If you have some vintage coins lying around, for heaven sakes grab them up and stash them somewhere secure!  You certainly don’t want them to wind up in a CoinStar machine or being cashed in at their face value to pay for groceries?

Think I jest?  You won’t after reading this tale of woe:

A woman in St. George, Utah went to the Zions Bank and handed over 14 gold $20 Double Eagle coins, saying she had groceries waiting at Wal-Mart, which would not accept the coins as payment.

The bank teller gave the woman $280 but the coins were worth far more. The oldest coin was minted in 1875 and the most recent was 1927. Now the search is on for the woman because she could be getting a lot more money. Double Eagles can fetch thousands of dollars or even up to $1 million depending on the date.

Even melted down the coins would fetch around $900 each at today’s gold prices. One can only assume that the lady had no idea what the coins were valued at the woman did not know the treasure that she surrendered but she’s in for a big payday now.