Flickr user foreverseptember
Truck Bound for U.S. Mint Overturns, Leaving Highway Paved With Pennies
The truck caught fire Thursday morning, blocking a Delaware interstate for hours.
Now here’s a story with some currency in today’s fast-moving news environment.
It was once said the streets in America were paved with gold, and while that turned out to be false at worst and metaphorical at best, the streets of the First State, Delaware, are at least paved with copper Thursday morning. Interstate 95-North is closed in New Castle after a semi-trailer carrying blank pennies and bound for the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia hit a barrier, overturned, and caught fire.
In presumably, though not necessarily, unrelated news, the dollar is down sharply against the euro this morning . Delaware’s corporate law has long made it a haven for the business concerns of one-percenters, but the influx of one-centers is a new development.
Images from Chopper 6 HD and the Action Cam showed tens of thousands of blank pennies covering the roadway. The driver suffered minor injuries and received treatment at the scene. There was no immediate word what led to the crash or if the driver would face any charges.
With any luck, the driver will be able to pay any fines with cash, in very small denominations. He’s already taking a Pounding in the press, but with I-95 closed for hours, the cents-less crash could cost commuters dearly.
Perhaps the whole thing is just a sly protest against the state’s extensive toll system, which takes advantage of the fact that anyone traversing the Northeast Corridor has to pass over its less than 25 miles of I-95. If you know anything more about this crash that could be useful to authorities, please drop a dime.
( Image via Flickr user foreverseptember )