When a Sheffield couple decided to explore a bricked-up part of their cellar, they found bags of coal and a rusty tin of paint that smelled of ammonia. They left it untouched for months. But during the Covid lockdown, Luisa and her partner, Dan, opened the tin with their kids and discovered a meticulously wrapped bag of cash.
TikTok reveal
In a TikTok posted on their account @scruffyandsorted, Luisa wrote, "The cellar really said treat yourself," as she pried open the damp tin to reveal the money. The notes were £5 bills from 1970 totaling over £1,000. Luisa joked it was "buried treasure." Before taking it to the bank, the family played a game of Monopoly with the unexpected windfall.
Timely find
Luisa told Newsweek they "couldn't have found it at a better time," as she was temporarily out of work during the pandemic. "It was nice to treat the kids a bit and catch up on any bills - it took some stress off us for a few weeks," she explained.
Online reactions
Commenters noted the notes might be worth more than face value. One wrote, "They're probably worth a lot because they're pristine." Another said, "Sell them or put them to auction; don't exchange at a bank!!!! You will get a fair bit more!!" Luisa clarified they "needed the money" during Covid, so they went straight to the bank. Another user quipped, "All we found in our new cellar were rat and squirrel skulls." A fourth suggested it was "the old landlord's secret stash," to which Luisa jested she hoped they were watching now. One user calculated, "If the previous owner had put that in a savings account, it would be about £16,000 today."
