A New Taipei City man on Thursday won NT$2 million (US$66,653) in a scratch-card lottery after touching a gold brick on display at the city’s Gold Museum earlier in the day, the seller of the winning ticket said.
The man, who appeared to be in his 50s, has frequently bought tickets at the Yawu lottery store in Ruifang District (瑞芳) and bought several on Thursday after visiting the museum, one of the store clerks said.
The man appeared stunned when the last of his cards showed that he had won NT$2 million, and he asked the clerk to double-check the ticket for him, the clerk said.
Photo: Yu Chao-fu, Taipei Times
“I touched the huge gold brick at the Gold Museum, and after being blessed, I had a hunch that I would win a prize if I bought a lottery ticket,” the clerk quoted the man as saying.
The 220.30kg brick is one of the big attractions at the museum, which focuses on Taiwan’s gold-mining history.
Meanwhile, a kindergarten teacher, who identified herself only as “Baomei” (寶妹), said she won the second prize in the special Lunar New Year scratch lottery — a Mercedes-Benz sedan and NT$2 million in cash.
She bought tickets on Monday at a lottery store in New Taipei City’s Lujhou District (蘆洲) after she received her year-end bonus.
Baomei said she would donate part of her cash winnings to orphanages and save the rest to pay for her two children’s education.
She would take her family on a trip to southern Taiwan in her new Mercedes-Benz, she said.
Baomei was the second winner of the second-biggest prize in the special Lunar New Year lottery, and there are five more similar prizes yet to be claimed, Taiwan Lottery Co (台灣彩券) said.
Three of the scratch cards have the top prize of NT$20 million, only one of which has been won so far, it said.
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