A truck transporting freshly minted coins overturned on a highway near Albord, Texas, spilling about 1.12 billion won (approximately $850,000) worth of newly minted 10-cent coins. The incident occurred on April 29 at 5:30 AM, when the truck, which was hauling coins from the mint, left the road and swerved excessively, eventually overturning on its side. The Texas Department of Public Safety explained that the driver’s loss of control caused the truck to fall over.
The crash injured both the driver and the passenger, who were subsequently transported to the hospital. Fortunately, their injuries were not life-threatening. The authorities shut down two lanes of the highway for 14 hours while workers scrambled to recover the coins scattered across the road. Some workers used large vacuum cleaners to suck up the coins, while others dug through piles of dirt with shovels and their hands. The scene was likened to a “giant piggy bank that had been broken open,” with coins spilling out across the highway, as described by The New York Times.
Despite the extensive recovery efforts, Albord Mayor Caleb Cavinis confirmed that while most of the coins were recovered, some were likely washed away by rain that morning. The incident caused significant disruption, but authorities were able to clear the area and resume normal traffic flow after the lengthy recovery operation.