Optatius Buyssens was on a reconnaissance mission near the Belgian town of Lebbeke in September 1914, when the sound of the loose change in his pocket attracted the notice of a nearby German trooper, who fired in his direction. He was struck in the chest and went down, but the coins deflected the bullet, sparing Buyssens’ life. He went on to survive the conflict.
These coins stopped a bullet and saved my great-grandfather’s life during World War 1
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Vincent Buyssens, the 28-year-old great-grandson of the Great War veteran, shared his great-grandfather’s incredible story on Reddit over 100 years later. He posted a picture of the damaged money, writing on the social news site, “These coins stopped a bullet and saved my grandfather’s life during World War 1.”
There are six pieces of currency, each showing high pressure stress marks that had bent their edges. It’s obvious a high amount of kinetic energy was expended to create these peculiar marks at some point in these coins’ history.
A native of Antwerp, Belgium, Vincent explained to the media that his father had received the coins from Buyssens, along with his wartime notes and journals.
He told The Daily Mail, “The story I shared on Reddit happened at the very early days of the war during a battle in the Belgian town of Lebbeke. Ironically, the coins were the reason why he got shot because it was the noise of them clinking together in his breast pocket which gave his position away.”
The 28-year-old went on to say that Buyssens was lucky, despite having also received a kick t0 the head from the German soldier who shot him. After he’d left, the Belgian, having pretended to be deceased, and another injured comrade crawled to safety.
Vincent found the story in his great-grandfather’s journal long before he shared it online, and he decided to save it to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. He stated that the story was one that captured the imagination, having sounded almost too good to be true.
The post was viewed by over one million users, and it collected more than 100,000 “upvotes,” with plenty of people surprised by his great-grandfather’s good fortune. The 28-year-old himself couldn’t believe the story when he had first heard it years ago, but after talking it over with his family and then reading it in the journals himself, he finally believed it.
Reddit users drew attention to the fact that it wasn’t just Buyssens’ life that had been spared by this lucky stack of coins, but those of his descendants – including Vincent – who’d never have been born if the bullet had been an inch to the left or right.
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Vincent acknowledges that there are a lot of skeptics on Reddit. Whenever he gets the opportunity to explain the circumstances in full, however, they often change their minds. Regardless, everyone, especially his family, agrees it’s a unique wartime tale.
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