A retired Maryland man regularly uses a “lucky nickel” to play the scratch-off lottery. Now, the coin has finally earned its name.
The man, a 62-year-old who had a career in the U.S. Navy and Pentagon Police, now has a retirement hobby of playing the lottery several times each week, according to a March 22 news release from the Maryland Lottery.
His lottery ritual involves a favored piece of change he keeps in his car.
“I will use a nickel for as long as I can keep it,” he told the Maryland Lottery. “They usually last about two months before I lose them and have to get a new one.”
Recently, he purchased a $10 scratch-off ticket from a 7-Eleven in Waldorf, a suburb of Washington, D.C., officials said.
When he began scraping away at the ticket, he noticed he’d won $50 at a minimum. Then — after scratching more lines — he realized there were a few more zeroes.
“I looked at it and I won $50,000. I was like, ‘Really!’” he told the Maryland Lottery.
The man isn’t sure how he will spend his winnings, but he noted that his wife’s birthday is around the corner.
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