Associated Press

Posted on December 31, 2010 at 7:10 AM

http://www.kmov.com/news/off-beat/San-Francisco-hotel-continues-money-laundering-after-72-years-112709869.html

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- There's a hotel in San Francisco that's been laundering money and is proud of it. The Westin St. Francis in Union Square is continuing a 72-year-old tradition of washing all the coins it handles. Every penny, nickel, dime and quarter is cleaned with soap and water before being dried and put in rolls. The San Francisco Chronicle reports the money was first washed at the St. Francis in 1938 after coins got a woman's white gloves dirty. Other San Francisco hotels used to wash coins, too. Now, apparently, only the St. Francis is still doing it.