FireLink

News >> Browse Articles >> General News

$182K in Nickels Scattered Across I-95

Workers picked up shiny nickels for about half a day Wednesday after two tractor-trailers crashed – an accident that killed one passenger and showered Interstate 95 with millions of newly minted coins.

The accident occurred about 5:15 a.m. near Mims in Brevard County after a tractor-trailer hauling more than $180,000 worth of nickels crashed into the back of another tractor-trailer, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

The impact caused the trucks with the U.S. Mint shipment to overturn while the other truck hit a guardrail.

The driver of the truck with the coins, William Rohrman, 54, of Levittown, Pa., was injured, and his passenger, William Sherman, was pronounced dead on the scene.

Sherman, 61, of Elkton, Md. was in the sleeper area of Rohrman’s vehicle when it crashed into the tractor-trailer driven by Ferlandis Green, 46, of Callahan, a town about 22 miles north of Jacksonville.

Rohrman was treated and released from Holmes Regional Medical Center. The FHP said Green was taken to Parrish Medical Center, but his status could not be determined Wednesday.

The crash remained under investigation and charges were pending, the FHP said.

Rohrman’s vehicle was hauling the nickels from Philadelphia to the Federal Reserve Bank of Miami. The truck was carrying 15 bags, each containing 240,000 coins.

The U.S. Mint said in a statement that no Mint employees were involved.

“We deeply regret the loss of life and injuries that resulted from this accident,” the statement said. It said IBI Secured Transport of Trenton, N.J., was carrying the nickels, and the commercial carrier was responsible for picking up the coins and for any losses.

This isn’t the first time a shipment of just-minted coins has been involved in an accident.

In Oct. 4, 2001, a tractor-trailer from the U.S. Mint in Denver was heading to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Antonio when it crashed on a highway 90 miles south of Lubbock, Texas. The crash left two dead, one badly maimed and 7.6 million pennies, worth $76,000, on the roadway.

FHP spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Miller said the Department of Treasury and the Secret Service were overseeing the coin pickup and were determined to pick up every one.

“They’re not going to leave anything there,” Miller said.

---