I’ve found £47,000 in tins of Nesquik hidden in the walls of my new home – but there’s a devastating twist

A HOMEOWNER couldn’t believe his luck when he found wads of banknotes hidden in old Nesquik tins in the walls.

Toño Piñeiro discovered a total of six aging containers in different parts of a house he is renovating in Spain.

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Inside were neatly pressed banknotes with a total value of more than nine million pesetas, Spain’s old currency.

That equates to more than £47,500.

However, his joy was short-lived when he found that some bills were so old that he could no longer exchange them for euros.

The Bank of Spain stopped accepting the older notes and Toño was told he had missed the deadline.

About half of his money turns out to be worthless.

He told the newspaper El Progreso: “I called them but they told me it was no longer possible.”

Toño, who works as a construction worker in Valencia, says he will keep some notes as souvenirs.

He found the Nesquik cans while renovating a ramshackle house he bought for his retirement in Galicia, northwest Spain.

The house had been abandoned for four decades when Toño, who grew up in the area, spotted it for sale on Facebook.

He found the old jugs all over the house while clearing away rubble.

The first two he found contained five million pesetas.

This was before the June 2021 deadline, allowing him to exchange it for €30,000.

“It paid for a new roof,” Toño said.

But he found four more tins, also stuffed with 1970s bills.

He said: “I guess they kept those containers to avoid moisture.

“The last ones were a bit damaged but the others weren’t – they were ironed, it was amazing.”

But it was too late for an exchange.

He said it sent him into “fury” but he’s since accepted his bad luck.

Neighbors said the house belonged to Manuel do Xentes, a worker at the Canabal Brickworks who was also a cattle dealer.

Died without heirs, leaving his fortune within the walls more than 40 years later.

Manuel also stuffed banknotes into various farm machines, which he then sold, locals said.

In addition to wanting to keep some as souvenirs, Toño is considering selling some to collectors.

Architect Pepe Cruz – whose father designed the banknotes from the 1970s – has previously stated that he is interested in buying some.

But the value has fallen after the market was flooded with old banknotes that can no longer be exchanged.

The peseta was abolished after Spain adopted the euro in 2002.

The Bank of Spain estimates that around 1.6 billion old banknotes and coins were not exchanged before the deadline.

Last week we shared how another home renovator found £150,000 in a mysterious box behind a wall – but it turned into a nightmare.

And £400,000 hidden in the walls of another house sparked a bitter legal battle between heirs, new owners and the builders who found it.