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Fourth 'lucky penny' worth $1,000 found in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — People in Charlotte are on a scavenger hunt for lucky pennies worth $1,000 each after Ally Bank planted 10 special coins in the city and so far only four of them have been found.

On Thursday, Ally Bank told Channel 9 that the fourth penny was found near Discovery Place in uptown.

Earlier in the week, Channel 9 discovered that three other pennies were found at Romare Bearden Park, the Charlotte Convention Center and at Bakersfield restaurant on East Boulevard in Dilworth.

Ally Bank wants to demonstrate the value of the penny and social media.

The lucky pennies are a copper color like real pennies, but feature the Detroit-based bank's logo instead of Abraham Lincoln's head. The flip side of the coin lists its value at 100,000 cents.

Ally Bank officials claim that nobody stops to pick up a penny anymore.

Ally Bank only tweeted this clue, “Gentleman, start your engines” and said the fake pennies would be in public places.

So, some went to the NASCAR Hall of Fame in uptown Charlotte to search for the elusive coins.

“It's my day off so I said, ‘Let’s go out here and see what I can do,’” Kenny Harper said.

Some coin hunters got an early start Friday.

“We've been our here since 7 o’clock this morning,” Lesley Beckham said. “We're serious. If anyone is going to find those pennies it's going to be us.”

The pennies have been placed in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Miami, Denver, Detroit, San Diego, Charlotte, and Austin, Texas. Three have been found but Ally Bank isn't releasing where they've been found.

The coins can be redeemed online until the end of the year.

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