James Brownell set out to track down some missing millwork materials. Instead, he stumbled on a surprise worth about $40,000.
Brownell, a merchandise service manager who has worked at his Lowe’s store for 13 years, was helping with a store reorganization when he remembered a box tucked away in the back.
Inside was a small, unmarked box that felt heavier than it looked. His first guess? Nuts and bolts.
It wasn't.
Buried among shredded newspaper and another box were vintage silver coins packed into three canvas sacks.
“It was almost like we were right out of a cartoon,” District Manager Joe Coscia said. “You’re finding the Wile E. Coyote sacks of money, right?”
The coins were worth about $40,000, according to Brownell. But a packing slip inside the box pointed to a bigger mystery: How did they end up at Lowe’s?
Coscia followed the information on the slip and made a call.
“I may have something that you want,” he told the person on the other end.
He did.
The coins had been missing for about 2 1/2 months, and an insurance claim had already been filed. But their value went beyond the price of the silver.
Coscia learned the coins belonged to a couple and included pieces collected by their parents and grandparents. A company was helping send the collection to a dealer in New York City when the shipment went missing.
That history has a fitting connection to Brownell.
He collected coins when he was younger, a hobby he shared with his father.
“So in my mind, that could have very well have been someone’s memento, someone’s personal hobby or, again, retirement,” Brownell said. “That’s their property. They deserve it.”
There was never a question about what he would do with the unexpected find.
“Did I think about keeping it?” Brownell said. “No.”
The coins were secured and ultimately returned to the company they came from.
For Coscia, the story wasn't really about what Brownell found. It was about what he did next.
“It all started with James doing something right when nobody was looking,” Coscia said.
