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Clean-up crews shut down part of the highway in northwest Texas after a truck carrying $800,000 worth of newly minted dimes overturned, spilling eight million of the coins into the road.
The incident occurred early Tuesday morning after the 18-wheeler veered off the road in the town of Alvord, Texas, shutting down the highway for around 14 hours.
The driver and a passenger were transported to hospital but their injuries were not considered life-threatening, a spokesperson from the Texas Department of Public Safety told the Wise County Messenger.
A DPS trooper at the scene told the outlet there were reportedly 8 million dimes in the truck. Authorities later confirmed that there was no other hazardous material in the truck.
Crews were seen on video using vacuums leading into a special truck to dredge up the loose change, as well as sifting through the dirt to hand-pick the coins on by one.
Street sweepers were also called to the scene to help claw back some of the currency.
Wise County residents marvelled at the incident. Sebastian Vasquez was driving to work when he witnessed the aftermath of the crash.
"I saw a truck flipped over, I was like, 'What's going on?' Vasquez told WFAA. "I almost came out here with a bucket so I can fill it up with some dimes."
In addition, personnel from the United States Armored Company were seen assisting in clean-up operations.
The company is a division of Western Distributing Transportation Corp., which specializes in transporting government cargo.
According to the Wise County Messenger, the highway was reopened at around 7:30 p.m. It is not clear if all $800,000 worth of dimes were accounted for, or where they were heading in the first place.
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