HAVE SOME OLD Irish Punt lying around your gaff? Don’t know where to spend it? Off to Clones with you.

Last week, a man from Clones stumbled across £1,000 in his house. It had an original band tied around it and was stamped, “Ulster Bank, Clones, 28 June 1989″.

Liptons / Facebook Liptons / Facebook / Facebook

He took himself off to Lipton’s where he managed to spend the wad of cash. How, you ask?

Ciaran Morgan of Lipton’s explained to DailyEdge.ie that businesses in Clones have been accepting the punt since 2012 as part of a local initiative to help keep money in the town.

We accept it at a rate of £1=€1.20. People come and spend their punt in the businesses, we bring the money to the Central Bank in Dublin (the only place that you can exchange), and we’re given a rate of £1=€1.27. So whatever money we make goes towards town parades and festivals.

I came up with the idea after reading about a small village in Spain that did it with the peseta. Any change that the customer get is in Clones Town Vouchers, so all money stays in the town, and means that only our local economy benefits from the exchange.

Liptons / Facebook Liptons / Facebook / Facebook

“So far over £46,000 punt has been spent in the town,” he said. “Money that wouldn’t have been spent, I suppose.”

As for what the man who discovered the cash spent the money on?

He spent some with us and then went to the local hardware and bought Diesel, Home Heating Oil, Fencing for his farm, and paint for the fence.

Brilliant.

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