Bookstore employee returns CZK 130,000 hidden in a horror novel

While sifting through a horror novel, an employee of secondhand Prague bookstore Knihobot stumbled upon an unexpected twist: CZK 130,000 in cash lodged in a copy of Stephen King’s title It.

“When I was sorting and photographing the book for sale, banknotes of CZK 5,000 spilled onto me. I was shocked,” said the employee who found the small fortune.

Thankfully, Knihobot got in touch with the book owner, who said that she had hidden the money, an inheritance from her late father, in King’s novel. The woman, whose father died from Covid-19 nearly four years ago, forgot that she had placed the money in the book.

A spokesperson for Knihobot said that it was common for people to forget to leave items such as bookmarks, notes, or some small amounts of cash in books before sending them to the reseller. This, however, is the most significant cash amount ever found.

The owner expressed her heatfelt gratitude to the staff and worker who discovered the hidden cash.

According to Czech civil law, people are legally obligated to report and declare a valuable item (over CZK 10,000) that has been lost. Appropriating – simply taking – it is against the law.

This is not the first time someone in Czechia has performed an honest deed after unexpectedly coming across lumps of cash. In November 2023, a man in Pilsen handed in a misplaced wallet on a supermarket drinks shelf that contained over CZK 400,000.

Another case towards the end of last year saw a man leave his wallet on the top of his car when refuelling at a gas station. When banknotes started flying after the car drove off, a man behind collected all of the banknotes dropped – around CZK 6,500 – and hunted down the unfortunate man who forgot his wallet. Him and the money were safely reunited.

If you lose your personal belongings in Czechia, you may be in safe hands. According to a 2019 study, Czechs are seventh most likely in the world to return a lost wallet.