Apparently that mattress was worth something ...

Israeli woman buys mom new mattress then throws out the old one, not realizing her mother had stashed almost $1 million.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/10/israel.mattress.money/index.html

 

There was a story on "This American Life" about a guy who had made some shady money in Chicago, I believe through selling ammunition. He had piles and piles of cash stashed around his house. Big garbage bags in his attic, stuffed in all his furniture. In addition to his shady-ness, he seemed a little unhinged and got real nervous about having it all around. This reporter was doing a story on the black market and had been interviewing and the guy said he had to get rid of some of the cash. The reporter joked that it's not like he could have a garage sale. The guy looked at him and said, the hell I can't. He started selling off stuff from his house, all of it, like vacuum cleaners, couches, mattresses, stuffed with cash. He swore the reporter to secrecy during the sale. People would come and try to haggle for the merchandise and the reporter would try to say stuff like, "You really, really, *really* are getting a good deal here," but Mr. Shady shot him dirty looks. Eventually, he sold off a bunch of the stuff.

 

Stories like this remind me why I keep my money in a bank.