Here’s a perfectly legal kind of money laundering. Back in the 1930s, when high-society women were typically wearing white gloves, the director of San Francisco’s St. Francis Hotel decided to have every coin washed squeaky clean before it was handed out again. The tradition has been been upheld ever since. The man in charge, Rob Holsen, has been looking after pennies and dollars that are badly in need of a shower for more than 15 years. I met him for a profile in the Financial Times Germany in 2011.
Rob Holsen in front of a photo on the wall showing Arnold Batliner, who kept washing all coins at the St. Francis hotel for more than 30 years
Unfit for further duty: any coin too damaged or raggedy looking ends up in a box and is, at some point, returned to a bank
Ready to rumble? A metal drum, dating back to the 1920’s, serves as bath tub for dirty coins
In the rotating drum, hand soap and tiny pieces of pellet work for hours to scrub the coins clean
Just add water…
Sort this out: Rob Holsen shovels the clean coins into a machine that helps to put the coins in paper rolls
A carousel for coins: quarter dollars tumbling into the sorting machine
Last stop!
The result: shiny and as good as new
All clean? Rob Holsen checks on quarter dollar coins that have been drying since the previous day’s wash
Rob Holsen in the lobby of the Westin St. Francis hotel in San Francisco
