A mildly infuriated Redditor claimed in a viral post that his wife accidentally traded his $3,000 rare coin collection for a couple bucks. According to the husband, he kept the coins in a jar on the shelf for sentimental reasons and a medical issue caused his wife to forget about their true value.
A lot of people doubted the story in spite of a follow-up explanation.
$3,000 in rare coins traded for knitting money
In a post from last week that has already gained over 26,000 upvotes, u/Advanced-Humor9786 described how he lost three grand to his wife’s knitting habit.
“I’ve been collecting rare coins since I was a kid,” he wrote. “I’ve had this jar for over 35 years on my bookshelf. She’s never noticed it even once in the 25 years of our relationship.”
“She brought it to a knitting store on Friday and traded them for a couple of one dollar bills. I had a small handful of silver quarters and some rare nickels. Two of the nickels were valued at over US $1300.”
In an email to the Daily Dot, u/Advanced-Humor9786 said his wife was mortified upon realizing her mistake, but her husband forgave her without hesitation.
“I Immediately gave her a big hug and told her that we shouldn’t worry about it,” he said. “She still felt terrible so we went back to the shop where she brought what she thought were simply pocket-change coins and bought back a bunch of nickels.”
“One of my personal rules for life is that I never kick a person when they are down, especially the woman I love whom I’ve been with for 25 years.”
Reddit suspects a fake
Anyone who’s been on Reddit knows about its fake story problem. The fact that the OP posted this on r/mildlyinfuriating, where folks relay life’s minor annoyances, caused some commenters to doubt his tale.
Other details left them with questions, such as why his wife never knew about the coins’ value. Fellow coin collectors were particularly suspicious.
“As a coin collector, putting this under mildly infuriating is an instant red flag and the lack of white hot rage in the post makes this impossible to be real,” said u/nakedfishchi. “25 years and never mentioned a life long hobby or moved the collection out of a jar? I’ve barely lived with my partner for a year and I bring it up at least once a month.”
“There is no way you collected something for 35 years just to never mention it to your partner of 25 years,” u/Sad-Cow-5580 declared.
“You kept your rare coin collection mixed with Chuck E cheese tokens in a glass jar, mixed with $2 of random coins?” asked u/Underwater_Karma. “Look I get that you’re trying to spin a story for Reddit Karma but you come off as the moron in this anecdote.”
OP followed up with a long explanation showing up those who claimed he wasn’t responding to comments. He said that his wife’s memory is unreliable due to a previous arteriovenous malformation in her brain. He said he did, in fact, tell her about the value of the coins years ago, but claimed she forgot.
“It’s how I remember my experiences that matters”
As to why he would keep such valuable coins in a jar instead of a protective sleeve or something, including two nickles supposedly worth $1,300, turns out he’s just a sentimental fella.
“The jar was on my bookshelf because I loved thinking about cool little treasures, like when I was a kid,” he claimed. “Apparently she just got tired of looking at it and had forgotten there was anything of real value in there.”
In his email, the Redditor elaborated on his reasons for keeping his coins in such an exposed environment.
“When I was in middle school I read magazines about coin collecting,” he said. “The idea of finding hidden treasure within roles of quarters or hidden beneath a tree on a farm or within the walls of an old house was so enthralling to me. I wanted to have my own jar of treasure.”
“They would’ve been meaningless locked up in a safe or fire box somewhere in my house. It’s like having good sterling silver flatware that you only use once every year or two. Why not enjoy your things of value on a daily basis the way you want to?”
He also noted that he’s financially comfortable, so he didn’t think much about selling them in the future.
In the end, rare coin guy sympathized with the doubters, and he’s not bothered by their accusations.
“It’s always a good idea to question things we encounter especially if they seem fake. In the long run, it doesn’t matter if people believe me or not. After all, it’s how I remember my experiences that matters.”
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