A MAN who lost his wallet containing just over $1000 in cash has had it returned to him 14 years later — with $1900 cash inside it.

Ivica Jerkovic, of Makarska in Osijek-Baranja County in the Republic of Croatia, said he lost his wallet either at a party or when he was driving his friend to a hospital after the party in 2001, Croatian news website 24 Sata reported.

He said the money in the wallet was meant for roof repairs to his home and he had given up thinking about the wallet many years ago.

Then on Friday, he received a package in the mail containing a box with his old wallet, more than $1900 in cash and his personal identification inside.

“I was speechless when I saw what it was,” Jerkovic reportedly said.

“First I thought that someone was joking with me so I went to check whether the money was real.”

He said he believes that the person who took the wallet was “in great financial trouble” at the time but had been able to recover.

“I believe that this money saved him and for years he was calculating how much he should return to me,” he said.

“Otherwise, I don’t know why he would keep the wallet for all those years.

“I call on him to contact me. He is the best personal banker in Croatia one can imagine.”

He added he had no anger towards the thief and now wanted to become friends. If the thief was actually a friend, he added they would be even better friends.

“What the thief has done is so great,” he added.