Travellers left behind nearly a million dollars at US airport security checkpoints last year, including about $19,000 in foreign currency. A Transportation Security Administration report said travellers lost $926,000 at 75 airports in the year that ended in September. Federal regulators say much of the lost money came from people emptying their pockets for security scans.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review who reported the story said the largest sums were lost at airports in New York, San Francisco, Miami, Las Vegas and Dallas. At the newspaper’s hometown Pittsburgh International Airport, travellers parted with $5,000.

The Transportation Security Administration suggests putting cash into carry-on bags, and reminds travellers who have lost money that they can contact the TSA’s lost-and-found office at the airport.

How it would be possible to prove you lost five bucks in change seems a pointless task. Unless someone loses a wallet or a large sum of money that can be easily identified as coming from a single source, why not donate the cash to any number of charities who could make good use of it in these difficult days.