I found $100k in cash when I stumbled on old safe - but money might be worthless (2024)

A COUPLE had a lucky find when they pulled a safe from a lake with $100,000 locked inside.

James Kane and Barbie Agostinicame across the safe while magnet fishing in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New York.

The couple said they got into the unique hobby while they were bored during the pandemic and call it "the poor man's treasure hunting."

Magnet fishing entails throwing a high-powered magnet, such as a neodymium magnet attached to a rope, into a body of water and seeing what sticks from the floor.

On Friday, the couple was magnet fishing as usual and hauled up a small, black safe.

They managed to pry it open and inside found bundles of cash, with an estimated value of around $100,000, according to NY1.

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''I THOUGHT IT WAS A JOKE'

When the couple first realized they were pulling up a safe, Kane says they didn't think much of it because, "We have found plenty of safes before, this is just what a magnet fisher does, you find safes."

He opened it up expecting to see clear bags where cash would be put but he looked closer and noticed a detail.

"Then I saw the numbers," he told the outlet, recalling when he saw the bills.

"And I said, 'Babe this is not possible.'"

In the safe were two "big stacks" of $100 bills.

"I did not believe it. I thought it was a joke. I thought [it would be] the baggies too and he was just joking," Agostini recounted.

Only after she saw the bills themselves and the bank security ribbons around the money labeled "$100" she finally believed it was real.

"I lost it," she said.

The money was soaking wet and "destroyed" with lake sludge covering the stacks of bills.

It's not clear if they will be able to cash the money, but the Bureau of Engraving and Printing says, if more than 50% of the currency is identifiable, a lawful holder of the notes 'may receive a redemption at full value,' according towebsite.

'NO CRIME'

Once they realized what they stumbled upon, they did some research and decided to call the New York Police Department to make sure there were no legality issues.

They have done this in the past as shown on their YouTube channel, Let's Get Magnetic, when they find objects they have to turn in such as guns.

Kane said that NYPD investigated and found no issue with their findings.

"Obviously, it was a safe that was stolen but there was no crime with us," Agostini said.

"There were no IDs, no way to find the original person in the safe so they were like 'well, congratulations.'"

When they placed the call, a bunch of cops including captains made their way over to see the safe.

Some cops had 18 years in the force and said "they have never ever heard of anything like this ever happen in New York City before."

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The U.S. Sun has previously reported on many instances of found money including a shopper who found $43,000 in a couch from the thrift store.