Someone paid parking ticket with $15 worth of dimes. ‘Above and beyond,’ PA police say

Someone stuffed 150 dimes into a bright yellow envelope, then covered it in 13 postage stamps and mailed it to a Pennsylvania police department.

That person was paying off a $15 parking ticket, according to a Jan. 11 Facebook post from the Lititz Borough Police Department.

The post — filled with sass and sarcasm — was a shoutout to the “anonymous parking ticket receiver.”

“With the nationwide coin shortage still in full swing, you went above and beyond the call of duty by making sure our supply of US 10 cent pieces is bounteous,” authorities said. “The fact that you, Mr. Parking Ticket Receiver, took the time to think of us while paying your parking ticket speaks volumes to your character as a human. We can imagine that paying a parking ticket is an extremely stressful event, so again thank you for thinking of us.”

The Lititz Borough Police Department also thanked “Mr. Parking Ticket Receiver” for teaching its staff a few new math facts.

Authorities learned that if the person paid the current rate of 60 cents for each U.S. Postal Service “forever” stamp, then they would have spent $7.80 to mail the heavier-than-usual envelope. In comparison, mailing cash or a check would have cost 60 cents — or one stamp.

That means this person spent an extra $7.20 to mail an envelope weighing about 0.84 pounds, according to the department. This increased the money spent to pay off a parking fine by 48%.

It took police less than two minutes to count the 150 dimes, authorities said, meaning less time than it took to write the parking ticket.

The Facebook post has received hundreds of comments, many getting a laugh from both “Mr. Parking Ticket Receiver” and the police department.

“Great sense of humor on both sides… of the coin…,” one person wrote.

“I think the ticket sender and the department both have a great sense of humor,” another said. “Both made me chuckle and smile.”

“This is an amazing battle of passive aggression,” one Facebook user wrote.

“This is the most perfectly petty posts i have ever seen and I love it,” said another.

“I think both the person who paid in dimes and the response to it are hilarious,” someone said. “No laws broken no foul.”

Others had their own clever responses.

“Do the crime, pay by dime,” a Facebook user said.

“This post is funny and makes cents,” one wrote.

Lititz is about 75 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

This story was originally published January 17, 2023 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Someone paid parking ticket with $15 worth of dimes. ‘Above and beyond,’ PA police say."