Sitting on a fortune

Press, 1 June 1977, Page 7

Sitting on a fortune

PA Auckland When 12-year-old David Poolman, of Kaukapakapa, decided to re-cover his trolley seat he recovered a lot more than he could have ever imagined—nearly $6OOO in pound notes. If his father had not persuaded him to persevere with recovering the old seat he would have thrown it all away. Late last year David was going through the Kaukapakapa rubbish dump when he found an old chair and he took it home and made a trolley out of it. The seat had been wet and was getting tatty and rotten, however, so on Sunday David decided to re-cover it. When he pulled out the seat he found three envelopes containing nearly £3OOO in £5O and £5 notes. “I just saw the three envelopes at first,” he said, “and then when I looked inside them I saw it was old pound notes. At first David's parents thought their son had stumbled on some old notes that would be of no value, but having learned they were still legal tender—and should the money remain unclaimed —they will put the money into a trust for him. In Form II at the Kaukapakapa school, David has found money before—he Once found slo—but the trolley haul was almost beyond belief.

The money and trolley are now safely in the Helensville police station. Constable D. D. Cummings said that the money could either be the proceeds of crime or belong to someone who did not trust banks. He said police were following a line of investigation ! into the possible source of! the money. If David Poolman eventu-1 ally gets the money he will be able to change it into decimal currency, according to a Reserve Bank spokesman. He said the old currency _was still legal tender.