9 : The Two Pound Coin - Something Old

The Mystery of the Coin

 

Well it certainly is a mystery how it got there, and why, but because it did it saved us a lot of money.  This 2006 two pound coin mysteriously found itself wedged in our washing machine causing it not to drain.  I had spent many a wash in the last week clearing and draining the water manually, taking nearly a full day to get each load done.  Very frustrating.  In the end I had decided just leaving off the emergency drain cap was the only way the machine would work, allowing all the dirty water to spill onto the laundry floor and down the drain.  A real mess, but at least the clothes were being washed.

 

When you find yourself head down on the laundry floor watching water spill out of your machine, just so you can see if the little water pump spoke is spinning, you know that things have got out of control.  There was going to be no other choice but to get someone in to fix it, or worse still, to buy yet another washing machine.  Not something we can afford right now, especially with Christmas looming.

 

In the process of trying to work out why the washing machine would not, or could not, pump the dirty water out, I examined the outlet hose.  Unfortunately I found out that it was actually cracked, and the more it was touched, the more splits appeared.  It had deteriorated rapidly. I couldn't understand why there hadn't already been water all over the floor from this problem.  Maybe it had just happened.  If water had spilled out of this area it would not have been such a good result.  We keep all our dry dog food in a tub in the sink beside the washing machine which would have been ruined.  Also the spilled water would have made a bigger mess on the floor and risk moving the washing machine off balance, causing more problems with the spin cycle. 

 

My husband and I looked at the machine and were stuck with any more ideas.  He decided to tip it on its side when I was at work and see if he could see any problem where the outlet hose attached. This is when the coin came out.  A 2006 English two pound coin of all things.  We can only conclude it must have been wedged behind the outlet hose, where we couldn't visibly see or reach it, stopping the flow.  Absolutely unbelievable, I have found a few coins over the years which have found their way into the filter basket or stayed in the machine rattling around, 5c and 10c coins, sometimes even $1 and $2 coins.  Never, have I found a foreign currency coin, especially a larger one like the two pound coin.  I can't even imagine how it managed to find its way, not only into the washing machine, but to wedge itself to stop the flow of water.  None of it made any sense.  But there it was, the evidence was clear, the coin lay suspiciously wet and covered in grit on the laundry floor.

 

As all things seem to happen for a reason, even minor things like a washing machine not working properly, this coin actually led us to find out the hose was cracked and needed replacement.  We had tried repairing the hose with tape, but it was too far gone and cracked even more.  A quick trip down to Bunnings on a public holiday and a mere $18 later gave us a brand new hose. 

 

Fingers crossed this was the only fault and whilst I went to work last night my husband replaced the hose and ran through two loads of washing.  Worked perfectly both times, no beeping, no manual removal of water and no leaking from a broken outlet pipe.  It was fixed, all for $18, and all because of a mysterious two pound English coin.

 

We have been to England twice in the past 5 years but the last time was 2 years ago.  It is a true mystery how and when the coin became stuck, but because it did it led us to find other problems which in the end probably saved us a lot more money.  I guess we should be thankful to the mysterious two pound coin.