The passenger on the back of a motorcycle had rucksack on his back containing more than £10,000 in cash. Yes, it came open and the money flew out all over the motorway. Motorists stopped to assist the unlucky man but only £500 was saved! It WAS a windy day.

I read it in my local newspaper but found that the BBC are also covering the story here

All this cash in the news reminds me of the Pink Floyd song "money".

Money, get away
Get a good job with good pay and you're okay
Money, it's a gas
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think I'll buy me a football team

Money, get back
I'm all right Jack keep your hands off of my stack

Money, it's a hit
Don't give me that do goody good bulldust
I'm in the high-fidelity first class traveling set
And I think I need a Lear jet

Money, it's a crime
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today
But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise
That they're giving none away.

The motorcyclists were certainly unlucky and the following is a tale of a little more bad luck.

Quote:

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Dozens lay claim to mystery money


Police say they are receiving dozens of calls from people claiming to be the owners of $250,000 found at the Rocks in Sydney.

Officers say some of the money was found under the desk of a 23-year-old Chippendale man who worked at a financial institution in the city, the rest was found in a safety deposit box.

In an interview, the man told police he originally found the money lying on a road in inner Sydney several weeks ago

Sergeant Dave Rose says if no one comes forward to claim the money, it will not be handed back to the man who claims to have found it.

"I think there are a number of investigations under way," he said.

"We are obviously trying to determine exactly where this cash has come from and I think there may be a number of government agencies from the federal perspective who would probably be very interested in this cash and be trying to determine just exactly where it came from."

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From here.

I recall from an another news source that one of the policemen involved had stated that it was illegal to find money and not hand it in and that if the young man had handed it in, if in fact he had found it, he would have got it if the rightful owner wasn`t found.

One of my co-workers told me today that he found a wallet containing a few hundred dollars and various credit cards yesterday and that he had traced the owner and handed the wallet and monies back to him. The worker received fifty for his effort which he was pleased with.

That reminds me of a story from the 60s where pennies landed in the street in Westfield Close, near Bristol. It then happened on demand whenever anyone called for them. It was supposed to have carried on indefinitely but I don't know if anyone ever got to the bottom of it.

Something happened like this in Philadelphia in the early 1980s. A man named Joey Coyle found 1.1 million dollars that fell off an armored Brinks truck. The money went to Joey's head...he really didn't know what to do...eventually he was caught and put on trial. He was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.

A movie was made on this part of Joey's life, entitled "Money For Nothing" starring John Cusack. Joey Coyle didn't live to see the movie as he committed suicide before the movie came out.