Out at the Philadelphia mint, the money was being made. Not like when you make money, more of creating it. A box full of quarters at the mint were ready to be shipped to banks around the country. A tall man walked in, and picked up the box, and placed it in his truck. It was ready to ship. He drove it all the way to New York City, and into Manhattan to the small Capital One Bank near the post office. The man handed the box of new quarters to a short woman with blond hair working at the bank. The man left, and the woman emptied the new quarters into the safe in the back room.

ONE WEEK LATER

It was morning, and all the stores and restaurants of the city were opening their gates, turning on the lights, and opening their doors to customers. The bank, of course, was also ready for business. A man with a small gray jacket, and gray hair, that looked like he could be in his late 50s walked in. He took a withdrawal slip, and filled it out. $30. The quarters were still in the back of the bank waiting safely, in the safe.

Uh-oh, he forgot his account number, was it 6532049 or 65320449 or 448? After he figured it out, he walked up to a bald man wearing a tuxedo at the teller. The man, whose name was Frank, asked him for thirty dollars. As the teller handed him 29 $1 dollar bills, he also gave the rest of the money to him in quarters, the new quarters from the mint. He walked out of the bank with his money in the bottom pocket of his jacket. As he walked down the block, there was a spot of bird poop on the sidewalk. While jumping over the spot, his quarters slipped out of his pocket and down.

Wait, where’s my last dollar? I only have 29.

Present Day

A little boy, who looked like he could be in Pre-K walked down the street with his parents holding his hands. The parents were discussing how their boy would always be taking litter on the sidewalk and collecting it. He let go of his mom’s hand while she was adjusting her mask and picked up one of the quarters which had been lying around on the ground.

“Ew, gross! That quarter has been there for as long as I can remember! Jacob, that is dirty money that people have touched! Now could you please put it down,”the Mom said.

Jacob said, “ Look it has a face!!!! YAY YAY YAY!!!! I am so happy!”

“But you’ve got to put it down” the Mom said, a little frustrated. The quarter had lots of footprints, scratch marks, bird poop, and even some mold on it. Over the years, it got dirtier and dirtier and dirtier. Nobody would ever want to touch it.

“Guess what I did now?!”Jacob asked.

“I don’t want to know!” the dad yelled.

“I put the money down on the floor!”, he said happily with a laugh. What Jacob really did was slip it in his mom’s pocket.

THREE WEEKS LATER

“Sorry it’s dirty, this is all I had left in my pocket,” the woman said to the man at the cashier. The quarter Jacob picked up was placed on the checkout table as she paid. She bought a water bottle, and walked out of the store. As she took off her mask to take a sip of water……..

He gathered up the money from the store. As he closed for the day, he drove away in his truck, back home. Back at home in Glen Head, N.Y. he took the money, and dropped it off at the TD Bank nearby, the quarter stayed there ever since.

Until….