Woman finds $50,000 in bonus bonds in old stool

A Kapiti woman who found $50,000 in bonus bonds stuffed in a dilapidated old stool never got a word of thanks when the windfall was returned to the owners.

Bronwyn Behl, a self-confessed "second-hand freak", was trawling pre-loved furniture at the Paraparaumu Salvation Army Store on April 9 when she found the fur-covered seat.

"I thought, right, I'm going to see what the paint work is like underneath," the healthcare worker said.

"I lifted it up and it had an old piece of carpet underneath and in that carpet was a whole lot of bonus bonds."

She was stunned to count out $50,000 in bonds, plus a single five dollar note. She called out for her mother to come to look before taking everything to the counter.

"The lady behind the counter saw that the bonus bonds had a number on them and she said `we'll have to find out (who the owner is)'."

The bonds were traced to a family estate.

"They had been hunting all the house," she said.

But Ms Behl has not heard a word of thanks from the estate, and is a bit miffed about it.

"How uncouth of the people, they could have rung me up and said thanks.

"Even if they can't give me a reward they could have at least rung up and said `look we can't give you anything but can we take you out to dinner?"'

Ms Behl never thought of keeping the bonds.

"The thing that I was thinking of was there'll be cameras around the shop, they'll be watching me, and oops, the next minute there'll be police and I'll be in the clink for the night."

Ms Behl did not walk away empty handed - the Salvation Army Store gave her the stool.

"My mother said later on `it's a shame you didn't keep the five dollars dear'," she said.

Salvation Army Family Store manager Dennis Walker said the stool had been donated by a Waikanae family after their mother passed away.

"When I rang the family they were cleaning up the house and they knew they (the bonds) were there but they couldn't find them anywhere - no one ever thought to look under the sheepskin covers on a little painted stool," he said.

The family were "absolutely over the moon" to have the bonds back but it was a "bit sad" they had not contacted Ms Behl, he said.

Bonus Bonds spokeswoman Jessamy Malcolm Cowper said the family could still have claimed the money without the certificates.

The Bonus Bonds Trust is an investment trust established by the government in 1970.

Each unit (or bond) purchased is eligible for a monthly cash prize.

- NZPA