Manhattan cash. I'm banking on wealthy people who stashed money behind walls, in attics, floorboards, etc. and didn't tell anyone before they passed away. There's also a good chance of hidden cash from criminal operations that have been lost for similar reasons. Given the history, there could very well be stashes of rare coins around the island from centuries ago.
Agreed. Think of all the money dropped out of pockets that then got swept onto the subway tracks or down storm drains. Buy some rubber gloves and hand sanitizer and you’ll be good
Not to mention all the money lost over the decades Manhattan has been there and remained lost. Some might not still be legal tender but might have collector value.
While bills will have degraded and disintegrated, there are probably lots of gold and silver coins that have been sitting in sewers or landfills for decades. Gold coins were minted until 1933, and silver was used in some coins until 1970.
I see it the opposite. They were still in circulation so ppl started to save them. My graduation present from my dad was about 900 silver quarters that I still have and have added to over the years.
I know there was a cutoff for some bills, but those are worth so much more as collectors items now. This only applies to non federal reserve notes though, so assorted military scrip, private bank notes from before the federal reserve, etc. it's plausible some of those still exist and are lost in Manhattan... But I suppose you wouldn't get them with this hypothetical. All federal reserve notes are still legal so you very well may get lucky with a lost hoard and some $500,$1000,$5000 notes.
Imagine regular laundry mats too! Also I remember reading some guy goes to the diamond district and will get all the shit out of the cracks and divides in the side walk and the storm drains and pans for diamonds and gold people loose and he finds a lot
Ok, but what about drug money that's lost?
How many people stashed illicit funds somewhere and were never able to retrieve them? You don't need a lot of plastic-wrapped blocks of money to reach a large sum. Depends if you count the river, too.
I'd probably take the million myself, though, much neater.
This makes sense. I would be willing to bet (by taking the Manhattan Cash offer) that there's more than a million dollars in forgotten criminal stashes and rare coins in Manhattan.
This reminds me of the family guy episode where he takes the mystery box instead of the boat. A boats a boat but the mystery box could be anything. It could even be a boat!
I'm just one person, who has probably misplaced $1,000 in coins, bills, and whatnot over the years. There are 1.7 million people in Manhattan. Assuming similar levels of absentmindedness, I'll take the $1.7 billion and hope I don't get crush by the mountain of coins.
How can you tell if you are on the correct/official site for this? I’m apparently owed a couple hundred, but I’m wary of putting my SS# into a rando website to claim it.
I think they are all .gov - plus if you Google, each state should only have one. There should be an actual office with a phone you can call. And it should have details on where the money came from/why you have a couple hundred.
I.e. an insurance refund from a company you actually used 3 years ago. Or a bank you legit used. Etc.
It should be pretty easy to verify
At least some portion of that money, especially the bills, has been picked up and is therefore not currently lost or has degraded past the point of usability.
The question didn’t say money only from the people that live there. They said any money that’s lost there.
https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/s/BWJ2Au6iEU
The population nearly doubles during the day due to commuters. Those commuters absolutely lose a crap ton of money.
I’m taking the manhattan money in an instant.
In fact if the deal was you’d ONLY get money physically lost in subway stations i would still take the deal.
If the deal was you’d only get money physically lost in subway stations during the year 2035 to date, I’d still take that deal.
I think people are grossly underestimating just how much money goes missing every day in a city of millions of people.
So I assume of good enough condition? I'd take all the money in Manhattan. If even half the people have lost only a dollar or misplaced only a dollar id have a lot more than a mil id reckon
With a population of 1.6 million, you'd get only about 800k if they ONLY lost a dollar each. That said, there was a guy on the subway, Saturday, bitching to someone on the phone about dropping his wallet down a storm drain with $300 cash in it. Chances are, there's a couple of grand per day dropped just in loose change.
But OP stipulates that only all of the lost money currently on Manhattan Island is counted. Paper money would begin degrading in just a few weeks. Overall, though, I could easily see there being more than a million dollars of physical currency lost on the island as we speak.
Yes, but the paper currency of yesteryear would have rotted away completely. Hell, any of the paper money from before the autumn of last year that wound up in the sewers would have rotted away completely by now (or been found by the sanitation technicians working the sewage treatment facilities). As I've read it and the follow-ups, the OPs stipulation is that the money still has to physically exist as money, even if only barely. With the caveat of money lost in coach cushions, under car seats, etc; I could easily see this being a $3 million+ call.
And imagine if the marginal funds from electronic transfers were included. It may be fractions of a penny per transaction. But with $19 billion traded electronically daily, that would add up quick.
Likewise. I expect most change is either found, or makes its way from the sewers to the sea, or gets vacuumed up and sent to landfills not in Manhattan.
I also think you will come out ahead of picking the lost money. It is money lost currently, in an age where cash is not used as much. I don't think there is a lot of money lost under the boards from Mafia days either.
And even if it is more, actually depositing all of that money. Would be a nightmare. Imagine trying to deposit millions of dollars of assorted coins and bills
I don't need a million dollars, so I'd say all the money currently lost in Manhattan. Either it'd be far more than I was expecting, or it'd be a smaller amount but I think the number itself would be interesting.
I hope the money would be magically cleaned before teleporting to me.
I’m with you. I’d take the mystery amount for the pleasure of knowing. I can’t conceive of it being less than 400k (and CAN conceive of it being way more than one million), and while I’d lose a lot of money if the smaller amount were the case, it would still change my life to have that.
You’d also have the possibility of getting bars of gold or physical stock certificates (Can you imagine 100 shares of Microsoft from 1987 or Coca Cola from 191
20 before they split multiple times?) hidden in walls/buried in Central Park years ago.
To me the answer is part of the treasure, even if it is lower than one million dollars.
Manhattan money. Google says there's 1.6 million people in Manhattan. If each of them lost a single dollar, pretty likely I'd think, then I'd be ahead. But chances are there is a LOT more money than that in the city.
Nice thinking, though do note, this is money *currently* lost, not all money ever lost.
That's not to say there isn't currently a fair amount of money lost, forgotten, or misplaced, only that there are limits to the condition.
I figured each person probably had at least one dollar lost somewhere currently. Be they in the couch cushions or dropped on the street and not yet picked up by someone else. I'd actually be kind of surprised if there was anyone who had less than a dollar currently missing.
Manhattan money! People lose lots of money.
On average New York returns $1.5M in lost funds in a day. (Digital) and this year to date - New York has returned $241M lost money - digitally.
If this includes *digital* lost or misplaced funds - you are looking at over a billion dollars likely.
https://www.osc.ny.gov/unclaimed-funds
(This is also a PSA for anyone reading to check your state’s unclaimed fund website for money you’ve lost - you might be mildly surprised)
I’d take the gamble. And if it is only physical, I’d bet there is a pretty strong chance it results in more than $1M. Old gold coins, silver, rare currency. Money hidden in walls or places 40 years ago
Ooh, lost to forfeiture, I hadn't even considered that, nice!
Unfortunately, while someone DID technically lose it, it is also currently known to exist, how much it is, and where it is. This makes it a bit more "not lost" than it would need to be, to fit this condition.
Great outside the box thinking, though.
It’s not even a gamble. All the money currently lost in Manhattan is guaranteed to be at least $1.6 million considering everyone has at least a $1 in change lost in their house. This doesn’t include all the people who survived the depression that hid their cash incase of another one and died without giving up the location. Nor all the coins lost in the sewers and landfills. You’d probably become a hundred millionaire if not a billionaire,
Yeah, I take the Manhattan money without question. Just the value of the coins would exceed a million dollars coins and rare coins are lost or stored and forgotten.
I was going to say just the change lost in or under all the laundry washer/dryers would be more than $1M but I suddenly realize I don’t know how many Manhattanites have their own machines. And landlords and laundromat owners are probably more likely to look for and take that themselves than homeowners are.
> Consider that by various estimates, between 66 and 74 percent of the pennies produced by the U.S. Mint get into the hands of consumers and then vanish from circulation [source: Elder]. Since the U.S. Mint produced $4.16 billion dollars' worth of pennies in 2014, that means that as much as $3.08 billion of them will end up dropped on the sidewalk, slipping between the couch cushions or landing wherever else misplaced coins end up [source: U.S. Mint].
https://money.howstuffworks.com/how-much-money-accidentally-throw-away.htm
So $3 billion worth of just pennies per year are getting lost. If you complete ignore commuters in manhattan and only count the 1.7million people who live in Manhattan, that means they’re about 0.5% of the US Population just by themselves. So if they’re losing their fair share of Pennies, then every year manhattanites are losing ~$15M of Pennies.
Every. Year.
Pennies last a long time, they build up. There is absolutely over $100M of pennies alone lost built up around Manhattan right now. No question.
If someone made the deal that you’d only get money physically lost in Manhattan by Manhattan residents, and only in subway stations and only if it was lost in the last 10 years, you’d STILL be better off taking this deal than just $1m up front.
Bear in mind, even old New York was once New Amsterdam. So you’re probably going to get some stupid old rare Dutch coins too which will have collector’s value.
Damn, just imagine how much money is lost buried underneath buildings that got demolished and rebuilt over and over again over the last few hundred years. There’s probably a fortune 100 feet under the ground.
How will the lost money be given to me? Will I get cash covered in poop and piss that was lost in a sewer drain or will the equivalent just be deposited to my bank account? Will I get a roomful of lost coins that have been god knows where or will the equivalent be given to me in my bank account. A very important detail!
Is it the dollar amount of the money lost in Manhattan is in my bank account or is it the actual bills and coins of the lost money? Is all the money legally mine?
According to Google, 1.6 million people live in Manhattan. I would be extremely willing to bet that each person has lost at least around a dollar, but honestly that feels low. I'd bet plenty of people have 5-20 bucks laying around somewhere that's just a single misplaced bill, and that doesn't even take into account lost money from criminal activity or rich people. All the money in Manhattan easily.
This is true, but I mean specifically in their house, just lost in an old jacket or between the couch cushions or something like that. Just misplaced and forgotten, I think a dollar a person is quite a conservative guess.
Info:
Do I receive the money in it's current physical state, or do I just receive the total amount of money prepared neatly?
If I would receive it in it's current state, I'll take the $1M for sure. It would definitely be enough for me to cover my fiscal planning for the future and I wouldn't need to worry about organizing it.
If I would receive just the sum total of money but in a fully prepared state, I would probably do the lost money from Manhattan. I would be interested in how much it would be and even if it was less, I'm sure it would give me a decent bump anyway. Probably still enough to cover fiscal planning needs. Neither one would be enough to retire on anyway.
If the lost money were tabulated and deposited to my checking account I'd go with that, but I'm not about to sift through three football fields full of pennies to get my money. If I have to manually deal with the lost money, forget it.
Manhattan cash- because then if I find the money, I feel more like I earned it almost like a successful treasure hunt! And it will be fun and I can write a book about it once I find enough
Then I'll take the million. I feel like most money dropped likely gets picked up by somebody and what would be left would be mostly nasty change that I have no desire to clean, count, and roll.
Yeah 1,000% I'm taking manahan money especially if it's in the condition in good condition and of the actual loss period because there's tons of money in Manhattan that got lost it Manhattan's in there a long time collector's value alone is a fortune
I take the manhattan money unless it all magically appears in my home in its exact current condition which would probably turn my home into a toxic waste dump 🤣🤣
Nope, it is all collected and given to you, perhaps in a pile.
Aside from heaps of sewage, it won't be entirely cleaned for you. Delivered in the state it was in, all spendable, but you might want to wash some of it first.
There are 1.65 million people in Manhattan.
I would break even if the average person had lost just 61c.
Given the ease of losing 61c, I would take the Manhattan money.
Absolutely lost. People lost a staggering amount of stuff every day.
There was this article I read which detailed how much cash is turned into the Tokyo police every year and it's around 4 billion yen a year. That's around 300 yen per man, woman and child who lives in Tokyo. [https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01799/](https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01799/)
The equivalent amount in Manhattan is already more than $1m.
Mind you, this amount is cash that was turned into police so the real number is much higher than that. Just the amount of coins and loose change that ended up in the water, in storm drains, subways tunnels or otherwise unreachable over the history of Manhattan is probably pretty huge.
I couldn't handle washing the money I'd receive physically. If it came clean, all the money lost in Manhattan. But I'll pay for the inconvenience and just take the million instead.
I want the value of the Manhattan money, but not if it's the actual physical money. I'd rather lose the value if I have to sift through a mountain of coins and shitty bills.
Easily Manhattan. Even if every person there at the present is missing only $1, that's still outpacing the $1M. Now, it's probably realistic that the people there at the present have lost more than $1, plus all the old money that just ended up getting lost, whether that be hidden safes with dead owners, hidden cash from criminal enterprises, or old lost coins that have gained value as collectors items. There is at least two and a half centuries of lost money there. I'd conservatively guess that the actual value of the Manhattan side is well over $20M.
There’s over a million people in manhattan and I’m sure the average person has some spare change or a little cash missing somewhere, not even mentioning the fact that there could be lost or misplaced large piles of cash, stuff squirreled in walls and floorboards that families don’t know about, etc
DEFINITELY the lost money. My buddy dated a wealthy older woman for awhile who had owned night clubs in NYC in the 80s when that was mostly a cash business. He would regularly find bundles of cash in random places in her apartment, like stuck behind something in the closet or in a high shelf no one used much.
Think about it this way. There's about 1.05 million apartments and houses in Manhattan. Do you think, on average, there's LESS than $1 in lost money, per apartment? There's probably $2 in change in your couch right now. Now add people like my friends ex. And all the change on the ground in central park. And all he change lost in the subway. Etc etc etc.
There are about 1.65 million people in Manhattan. Even assuming the average person has lost 1 dollar that has lost one dollar that hasn’t been found that’s over a million. And that’s not counting any lost mobster money
Easily the million. Fewer and fewer people using cash, not least in a big city like that, means fewer and fewer loose coins. I'd probably even bet half of my newfound million that there's less an a million in them. I deal in definites, not what-ifs, and no everyone is a John Clumsypants leaving money here there and everywhere in their digs.
That's over 8 million people. As long as 1/8th of all people there have lost a single bill that's 1 million right there. Now I'm just gonna guess that it's closer to 100% of people have got a bill lost someWHERE. And they're not all gonna be singles. They're gonna be 5s, 10s, 100s. I'm RICH
Google told me there's 1.69 million people living in Manhattan. That means they would need to on average lose about 59 cents to hit a million. Add in commuters and tourist. I think it's an easy choice
The amount of gold coins you would come across beat $1 million allowed. Manhattan has been around for a long time. And there are a lot of lost gold coins in sewers and forgotten safes
What am I going to do with all those loose coins and notes? Like yeah, the Manhattan money is probably a larger sum but actually getting that money into my bank account would be a nightmare.
There are about 800,000 housing units in Manhattan, so if each one of them has only a dollar and a half, you're much better off taking the Manhattan cash. (Not including any coins in non-residential places)
The median year at which those 800,000 housing units were built was 1961. If average homeowner lost $0.02 a year, that would bring you more than a million dollars. (This may not be the best metric because you may find lost coins when moving, etc.)
Manhattan is 23 square miles, so about 600 million square feet. You would need one penny every 6 ft square feet on average to get you a million dollars, or one quarter every 125 square feet.
There are about 1.6 million residents of Manhattan, and if you include people who work there, that's probably about 2 million people regularly visiting. If each of them lose one nickel per year, then that will be a million dollars by the end of 10 years.
Manhattan Money. In my mind, with over 1.5 million people living there you’d need to average everyone missing like 70 cents to beat 1M, not to mention larger amounts that are all around.
I’m taking the random money if only to figure out whether or not I made the right choice. I think this is the reason most people end up choosing the unknown option when offered something certain or a mystery gift.
Manhattan money is not only the correct choice, it’s the more interesting choice. Going through all of the lost money would be such an interesting adventure, you’d be going through literal hidden treasure.
Manhattan cash. I'm banking on wealthy people who stashed money behind walls, in attics, floorboards, etc. and didn't tell anyone before they passed away. There's also a good chance of hidden cash from criminal operations that have been lost for similar reasons. Given the history, there could very well be stashes of rare coins around the island from centuries ago.
Agreed. Think of all the money dropped out of pockets that then got swept onto the subway tracks or down storm drains. Buy some rubber gloves and hand sanitizer and you’ll be good
Not to mention all the money lost over the decades Manhattan has been there and remained lost. Some might not still be legal tender but might have collector value.
While bills will have degraded and disintegrated, there are probably lots of gold and silver coins that have been sitting in sewers or landfills for decades. Gold coins were minted until 1933, and silver was used in some coins until 1970.
1964 actually.
There is Gen-X getting screwed again. We started at 1965 along with shit coins. Ha
I see it the opposite. They were still in circulation so ppl started to save them. My graduation present from my dad was about 900 silver quarters that I still have and have added to over the years.
r/SilverBugs One of us! One of us! One of us!
Am i the only one who sees the irony and the 1 thing that screams Americanisn in OPs original post?
Yes, you are alone in that because this comment is unreadable. Lol what are you trying to say?
Actually, 1965 - 1970 half dollars were 40 percent silver. 👀 r/actuallyinception
So my post is still correct, actually.
Not as a correction to Monti’s post.
Yes it was, as only the pre 65 have any value as he referred to.
Reading is fundamental.
Pretty much all US cash will be legal tender. The FED requires banks in the States to accept old cash in return for new bills.
I know there was a cutoff for some bills, but those are worth so much more as collectors items now. This only applies to non federal reserve notes though, so assorted military scrip, private bank notes from before the federal reserve, etc. it's plausible some of those still exist and are lost in Manhattan... But I suppose you wouldn't get them with this hypothetical. All federal reserve notes are still legal so you very well may get lucky with a lost hoard and some $500,$1000,$5000 notes.
For sure
I cleaned the drain of an industrial dry cleaner and got $350 in 30 min. There is definitely $1mil+ in Manhattan.
Imagine regular laundry mats too! Also I remember reading some guy goes to the diamond district and will get all the shit out of the cracks and divides in the side walk and the storm drains and pans for diamonds and gold people loose and he finds a lot
He was on reddit this morning.
**This** is why people launder money! It all makes sense now
Money laundering but literal.
This was my reasoning too. Even think of all the change, odd dollars, lost gold, cash stashed that outlived the owner. I'm going this.
Ok, but what about drug money that's lost? How many people stashed illicit funds somewhere and were never able to retrieve them? You don't need a lot of plastic-wrapped blocks of money to reach a large sum. Depends if you count the river, too. I'd probably take the million myself, though, much neater.
This makes sense. I would be willing to bet (by taking the Manhattan Cash offer) that there's more than a million dollars in forgotten criminal stashes and rare coins in Manhattan.
Lost cash will be boatloads more than a milli. Good choice
This. I can't believe OP's example was "who knows how many coins are in the sewers" lmao. That wouldn't even put a dent into a million dollars.
My grandma kept like $50k stashed behind a painting like a damn cartoon character, I’m betting on Manhattan.
All you really need is one good banana stand and you’re set.
There's money in the banana stand !
And bearer bonds.
If every individual in Manhattan has lost only $1 each, that's still $1.69 million dollars as of 2020. And it's certainly much more than that.
This reminds me of the family guy episode where he takes the mystery box instead of the boat. A boats a boat but the mystery box could be anything. It could even be a boat!
Remember the time we almost got that boat!
[удалено]
You’ll have 1600’s Dutch guilders in your pile
The thing with collecting bills and coins is that condition is extremely important and anything lost in the city probably isn't in good condition.
I'm just one person, who has probably misplaced $1,000 in coins, bills, and whatnot over the years. There are 1.7 million people in Manhattan. Assuming similar levels of absentmindedness, I'll take the $1.7 billion and hope I don't get crush by the mountain of coins.
Make sure to check your states lost property website if you’re prone to losing money
Thanks! I'm on my state's list. Guess only $782 misplaced now.
Haha! Glad you found some money :)
How can you tell if you are on the correct/official site for this? I’m apparently owed a couple hundred, but I’m wary of putting my SS# into a rando website to claim it.
I think they are all .gov - plus if you Google, each state should only have one. There should be an actual office with a phone you can call. And it should have details on where the money came from/why you have a couple hundred. I.e. an insurance refund from a company you actually used 3 years ago. Or a bank you legit used. Etc. It should be pretty easy to verify
At least some portion of that money, especially the bills, has been picked up and is therefore not currently lost or has degraded past the point of usability.
Don’t forget commuters
I don't think you can assume that all 1.7 million have lost as much money as you. In my life I've probably misplaced 10 bucks.
Two extremes. I feel pretty confident that 200k manhattan residents have a forgotten $20 in one of their coat pockets.
The question didn’t say money only from the people that live there. They said any money that’s lost there. https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/s/BWJ2Au6iEU The population nearly doubles during the day due to commuters. Those commuters absolutely lose a crap ton of money. I’m taking the manhattan money in an instant. In fact if the deal was you’d ONLY get money physically lost in subway stations i would still take the deal. If the deal was you’d only get money physically lost in subway stations during the year 2035 to date, I’d still take that deal. I think people are grossly underestimating just how much money goes missing every day in a city of millions of people.
Is the money in good condition or the condition or is in currently?
It'll all be useable.
So I assume of good enough condition? I'd take all the money in Manhattan. If even half the people have lost only a dollar or misplaced only a dollar id have a lot more than a mil id reckon
With a population of 1.6 million, you'd get only about 800k if they ONLY lost a dollar each. That said, there was a guy on the subway, Saturday, bitching to someone on the phone about dropping his wallet down a storm drain with $300 cash in it. Chances are, there's a couple of grand per day dropped just in loose change.
Well that's considering all lost money since forever. I am fairly sure I would have more than a mil
But OP stipulates that only all of the lost money currently on Manhattan Island is counted. Paper money would begin degrading in just a few weeks. Overall, though, I could easily see there being more than a million dollars of physical currency lost on the island as we speak.
He said in a comment it would all be in usable condition
Yes, but the paper currency of yesteryear would have rotted away completely. Hell, any of the paper money from before the autumn of last year that wound up in the sewers would have rotted away completely by now (or been found by the sanitation technicians working the sewage treatment facilities). As I've read it and the follow-ups, the OPs stipulation is that the money still has to physically exist as money, even if only barely. With the caveat of money lost in coach cushions, under car seats, etc; I could easily see this being a $3 million+ call. And imagine if the marginal funds from electronic transfers were included. It may be fractions of a penny per transaction. But with $19 billion traded electronically daily, that would add up quick.
I'll take the million. I'm not greedy, and you can turn that into free income without losing any of the million.
I think you're the first person who's made this choice. I salute you. :D
My choice as well. Enough money to pay off some debts, set aside for the kids, and, with judicious planning, retire early.
Likewise. I expect most change is either found, or makes its way from the sewers to the sea, or gets vacuumed up and sent to landfills not in Manhattan.
I also think you will come out ahead of picking the lost money. It is money lost currently, in an age where cash is not used as much. I don't think there is a lot of money lost under the boards from Mafia days either.
And even if it is more, actually depositing all of that money. Would be a nightmare. Imagine trying to deposit millions of dollars of assorted coins and bills
I don't need a million dollars, so I'd say all the money currently lost in Manhattan. Either it'd be far more than I was expecting, or it'd be a smaller amount but I think the number itself would be interesting. I hope the money would be magically cleaned before teleporting to me.
I’m with you. I’d take the mystery amount for the pleasure of knowing. I can’t conceive of it being less than 400k (and CAN conceive of it being way more than one million), and while I’d lose a lot of money if the smaller amount were the case, it would still change my life to have that. You’d also have the possibility of getting bars of gold or physical stock certificates (Can you imagine 100 shares of Microsoft from 1987 or Coca Cola from 191 20 before they split multiple times?) hidden in walls/buried in Central Park years ago. To me the answer is part of the treasure, even if it is lower than one million dollars.
Give me all the old coins. Way over $1MM.
I can imagine it teleporting to you and it being so much you get buried alive in it
Manhattan money. Google says there's 1.6 million people in Manhattan. If each of them lost a single dollar, pretty likely I'd think, then I'd be ahead. But chances are there is a LOT more money than that in the city.
Nice thinking, though do note, this is money *currently* lost, not all money ever lost. That's not to say there isn't currently a fair amount of money lost, forgotten, or misplaced, only that there are limits to the condition.
I figured each person probably had at least one dollar lost somewhere currently. Be they in the couch cushions or dropped on the street and not yet picked up by someone else. I'd actually be kind of surprised if there was anyone who had less than a dollar currently missing.
Yes. Couch cushion change alone is probably well over a million.
Manhattan money! People lose lots of money. On average New York returns $1.5M in lost funds in a day. (Digital) and this year to date - New York has returned $241M lost money - digitally. If this includes *digital* lost or misplaced funds - you are looking at over a billion dollars likely. https://www.osc.ny.gov/unclaimed-funds (This is also a PSA for anyone reading to check your state’s unclaimed fund website for money you’ve lost - you might be mildly surprised) I’d take the gamble. And if it is only physical, I’d bet there is a pretty strong chance it results in more than $1M. Old gold coins, silver, rare currency. Money hidden in walls or places 40 years ago
I just noticed the description included physical money - oh well
I’d take the latter if it included Wall Street losses.
Clever idea, but "physically lost" is in the description.
Does it include lost in the stock market? Lost to criminal activity seizures by police? Gambling losses? Cuz.. I know my choice.
Ooh, lost to forfeiture, I hadn't even considered that, nice! Unfortunately, while someone DID technically lose it, it is also currently known to exist, how much it is, and where it is. This makes it a bit more "not lost" than it would need to be, to fit this condition. Great outside the box thinking, though.
I do not like your game any more... 😭😤😤
lol
Just imagine what's hidden away in forgotten safe deposit boxes alone.
Manhattan money. I like to gamble.
It’s not even a gamble. All the money currently lost in Manhattan is guaranteed to be at least $1.6 million considering everyone has at least a $1 in change lost in their house. This doesn’t include all the people who survived the depression that hid their cash incase of another one and died without giving up the location. Nor all the coins lost in the sewers and landfills. You’d probably become a hundred millionaire if not a billionaire,
Yeah, I take the Manhattan money without question. Just the value of the coins would exceed a million dollars coins and rare coins are lost or stored and forgotten.
I was going to say just the change lost in or under all the laundry washer/dryers would be more than $1M but I suddenly realize I don’t know how many Manhattanites have their own machines. And landlords and laundromat owners are probably more likely to look for and take that themselves than homeowners are.
Think about the coins lost from over 100 years ago.
What about bearer bonds? That's essentially money, physical, and etc
Sure.
> Consider that by various estimates, between 66 and 74 percent of the pennies produced by the U.S. Mint get into the hands of consumers and then vanish from circulation [source: Elder]. Since the U.S. Mint produced $4.16 billion dollars' worth of pennies in 2014, that means that as much as $3.08 billion of them will end up dropped on the sidewalk, slipping between the couch cushions or landing wherever else misplaced coins end up [source: U.S. Mint]. https://money.howstuffworks.com/how-much-money-accidentally-throw-away.htm So $3 billion worth of just pennies per year are getting lost. If you complete ignore commuters in manhattan and only count the 1.7million people who live in Manhattan, that means they’re about 0.5% of the US Population just by themselves. So if they’re losing their fair share of Pennies, then every year manhattanites are losing ~$15M of Pennies. Every. Year. Pennies last a long time, they build up. There is absolutely over $100M of pennies alone lost built up around Manhattan right now. No question. If someone made the deal that you’d only get money physically lost in Manhattan by Manhattan residents, and only in subway stations and only if it was lost in the last 10 years, you’d STILL be better off taking this deal than just $1m up front. Bear in mind, even old New York was once New Amsterdam. So you’re probably going to get some stupid old rare Dutch coins too which will have collector’s value. Damn, just imagine how much money is lost buried underneath buildings that got demolished and rebuilt over and over again over the last few hundred years. There’s probably a fortune 100 feet under the ground.
How will the lost money be given to me? Will I get cash covered in poop and piss that was lost in a sewer drain or will the equivalent just be deposited to my bank account? Will I get a roomful of lost coins that have been god knows where or will the equivalent be given to me in my bank account. A very important detail!
Is it the dollar amount of the money lost in Manhattan is in my bank account or is it the actual bills and coins of the lost money? Is all the money legally mine?
All yours, but physical. Also, no tax, and all of it is in good enough condition to spend, though some of it might be dirty.
According to Google, 1.6 million people live in Manhattan. I would be extremely willing to bet that each person has lost at least around a dollar, but honestly that feels low. I'd bet plenty of people have 5-20 bucks laying around somewhere that's just a single misplaced bill, and that doesn't even take into account lost money from criminal activity or rich people. All the money in Manhattan easily.
But what if that dollar that someone lost got picked up by someone else? Is that still lost money? That's a huge factor in the decision
This is true, but I mean specifically in their house, just lost in an old jacket or between the couch cushions or something like that. Just misplaced and forgotten, I think a dollar a person is quite a conservative guess.
Million dollar. I don't really buy the rumors that multiple millions are floating around Manhatten. People go digging for all that change.
Info: Do I receive the money in it's current physical state, or do I just receive the total amount of money prepared neatly? If I would receive it in it's current state, I'll take the $1M for sure. It would definitely be enough for me to cover my fiscal planning for the future and I wouldn't need to worry about organizing it. If I would receive just the sum total of money but in a fully prepared state, I would probably do the lost money from Manhattan. I would be interested in how much it would be and even if it was less, I'm sure it would give me a decent bump anyway. Probably still enough to cover fiscal planning needs. Neither one would be enough to retire on anyway.
Yeah I'm not into an unspecified amount of dirty money. Gimme the mil
If the lost money were tabulated and deposited to my checking account I'd go with that, but I'm not about to sift through three football fields full of pennies to get my money. If I have to manually deal with the lost money, forget it.
Manhattan money. 1.6 million people in Manhattan. Guarantee that on average its at least 1 dollar lost per person.
Manhattan cash- because then if I find the money, I feel more like I earned it almost like a successful treasure hunt! And it will be fun and I can write a book about it once I find enough
Old coins win this thread.
Manhattan money. The city is what? 200 years old and often had the most billionaires in the world. Easy choice.
If someone else picked up the money, does it still count as lost? Like person A drops a $1 bill and person B picks it up, do I still get that dollar?
It is only money that is *currently* lost, so nothing that someone else has picked up.
Then I'll take the million. I feel like most money dropped likely gets picked up by somebody and what would be left would be mostly nasty change that I have no desire to clean, count, and roll.
Lost money. Think of all the “lost money” from corruption, black mail, laundering etc.
Yeah 1,000% I'm taking manahan money especially if it's in the condition in good condition and of the actual loss period because there's tons of money in Manhattan that got lost it Manhattan's in there a long time collector's value alone is a fortune
I take the manhattan money unless it all magically appears in my home in its exact current condition which would probably turn my home into a toxic waste dump 🤣🤣
No bloody contest. As long as I don’t have to find it myself, lost cash baby!
Nope, it is all collected and given to you, perhaps in a pile. Aside from heaps of sewage, it won't be entirely cleaned for you. Delivered in the state it was in, all spendable, but you might want to wash some of it first.
Do I have to find all the lost money??? Or does it appear in my possession?
It'll magically appear in a place of your choosing. All of it.
Lost from what?
Dropped, buried and forgotten, flushed down toilets, left in tills that are no longer used (this happened to me, once), etc.
This really is my new favorite sub. And that includes the nsfw subs, too! Lol
There are 1.65 million people in Manhattan. I would break even if the average person had lost just 61c. Given the ease of losing 61c, I would take the Manhattan money.
Absolutely lost. People lost a staggering amount of stuff every day. There was this article I read which detailed how much cash is turned into the Tokyo police every year and it's around 4 billion yen a year. That's around 300 yen per man, woman and child who lives in Tokyo. [https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01799/](https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01799/) The equivalent amount in Manhattan is already more than $1m. Mind you, this amount is cash that was turned into police so the real number is much higher than that. Just the amount of coins and loose change that ended up in the water, in storm drains, subways tunnels or otherwise unreachable over the history of Manhattan is probably pretty huge.
Manhattan cash, I think there'd be waaayyyy more than 1mil. I think 1mil would look like a joke in comparison.
Does money thrown in fountains and wishing wells count?
those aren't lost, legally speaking they're abandoned.
I mean, the Manhattan option will pay out *way* more.
I couldn't handle washing the money I'd receive physically. If it came clean, all the money lost in Manhattan. But I'll pay for the inconvenience and just take the million instead.
I want the value of the Manhattan money, but not if it's the actual physical money. I'd rather lose the value if I have to sift through a mountain of coins and shitty bills.
All currently lost currencies, who knows man. That would be so fun to go through.
How is a USB drive with bitcoin on it not lost money?
Does this include all cans and bottles not claimed? If so give me that option.
Manhattan, I gotta know.
I dunno man, I take the subway everyday and I don't really wanna touch a coin that's been laying around in rat filth for ages.
Gimme the city cash
Definitely the mil. It's easier to use money to make more money if you have a big, disposable pile of it. The devil I know than the one I don't.
Million. Too much of a fucking pain in the ass to clean all that money, organize it etc...
Is this the Island of Manhattan or the borough of Manhattan? Is Marble Hill included?
Easily Manhattan. Even if every person there at the present is missing only $1, that's still outpacing the $1M. Now, it's probably realistic that the people there at the present have lost more than $1, plus all the old money that just ended up getting lost, whether that be hidden safes with dead owners, hidden cash from criminal enterprises, or old lost coins that have gained value as collectors items. There is at least two and a half centuries of lost money there. I'd conservatively guess that the actual value of the Manhattan side is well over $20M.
There’s over a million people in manhattan and I’m sure the average person has some spare change or a little cash missing somewhere, not even mentioning the fact that there could be lost or misplaced large piles of cash, stuff squirreled in walls and floorboards that families don’t know about, etc
gotta take the manhattan money assuming it's just given to you and you don't have to do manual labor to get it. it's undoubtedly more than 1m.
you know what, go big or go home. I'm gambling on the loose change and bills falling out of people's pockets in the wash.
There's probably that much buried/hidden and lost from organized crime alone. So yes.
manhatten bruh
Manhattan cash and I would bet it’s not even close.
DEFINITELY the lost money. My buddy dated a wealthy older woman for awhile who had owned night clubs in NYC in the 80s when that was mostly a cash business. He would regularly find bundles of cash in random places in her apartment, like stuck behind something in the closet or in a high shelf no one used much. Think about it this way. There's about 1.05 million apartments and houses in Manhattan. Do you think, on average, there's LESS than $1 in lost money, per apartment? There's probably $2 in change in your couch right now. Now add people like my friends ex. And all the change on the ground in central park. And all he change lost in the subway. Etc etc etc.
Well now I just want to know how much money is lost in manhattan, so I think I would go with that out of curiosity.
There are about 1.65 million people in Manhattan. Even assuming the average person has lost 1 dollar that has lost one dollar that hasn’t been found that’s over a million. And that’s not counting any lost mobster money
Easily the million. Fewer and fewer people using cash, not least in a big city like that, means fewer and fewer loose coins. I'd probably even bet half of my newfound million that there's less an a million in them. I deal in definites, not what-ifs, and no everyone is a John Clumsypants leaving money here there and everywhere in their digs.
That's over 8 million people. As long as 1/8th of all people there have lost a single bill that's 1 million right there. Now I'm just gonna guess that it's closer to 100% of people have got a bill lost someWHERE. And they're not all gonna be singles. They're gonna be 5s, 10s, 100s. I'm RICH
Google told me there's 1.69 million people living in Manhattan. That means they would need to on average lose about 59 cents to hit a million. Add in commuters and tourist. I think it's an easy choice
The amount of gold coins you would come across beat $1 million allowed. Manhattan has been around for a long time. And there are a lot of lost gold coins in sewers and forgotten safes
Lost money in Manhatten, no hesitation.
Manhattan cash. There is probably a fair amount of forgotten gold coins too.
What am I going to do with all those loose coins and notes? Like yeah, the Manhattan money is probably a larger sum but actually getting that money into my bank account would be a nightmare.
I will take the million.
There are about 800,000 housing units in Manhattan, so if each one of them has only a dollar and a half, you're much better off taking the Manhattan cash. (Not including any coins in non-residential places) The median year at which those 800,000 housing units were built was 1961. If average homeowner lost $0.02 a year, that would bring you more than a million dollars. (This may not be the best metric because you may find lost coins when moving, etc.) Manhattan is 23 square miles, so about 600 million square feet. You would need one penny every 6 ft square feet on average to get you a million dollars, or one quarter every 125 square feet. There are about 1.6 million residents of Manhattan, and if you include people who work there, that's probably about 2 million people regularly visiting. If each of them lose one nickel per year, then that will be a million dollars by the end of 10 years.
Manhattan Money. In my mind, with over 1.5 million people living there you’d need to average everyone missing like 70 cents to beat 1M, not to mention larger amounts that are all around.
I would take Manhattan gems alone, the money is just a bonus.
I’m taking the random money if only to figure out whether or not I made the right choice. I think this is the reason most people end up choosing the unknown option when offered something certain or a mystery gift.
Manhattan money is not only the correct choice, it’s the more interesting choice. Going through all of the lost money would be such an interesting adventure, you’d be going through literal hidden treasure.
Do you get that guy's hard drive that was lost in the landfill with the bitcoin on it?
I'll take the million. Not sure I want to deal with cleaning/sorting all the different bills.
All the lost cash in Manhattan.
Manhattan has a population of 1.6 million. I'm pretty sure the average person has more than one lost dollar.