Narelle Campbell caught up with her 'coin collector', Link Smith and his partner Sharna Thomas to thank him for his honesty.

Narelle Campbell caught up with her 'coin collector', Link Smith and his partner Sharna Thomas to thank him for his honesty.

AN INSTINCTIVE act of honesty has saved a local woman money and inconvenience and shown integrity exists among our community.

One fortunate customer was informed the money she misplaced had been returned by a good samaritan. Marc Stapelberg

Lismore resident Narelle Campbell was "gobsmacked" after what she thought was $80 to $100 worth of coins were handed in to the police after a local man found them dispensed in the CBA ATM where she deposited money on the weekend.

Police worked with the Commonwealth Bank Lismore branch to work out who the coins belong to.

"I didn't know how to retrieve my coins which were uncounted as I had put too many in so I left thinking I'll sort it out tomorrow," Ms Campbell said.

"Monday came I received a call from the bank who had also received a call from Lismore police. It seems the coins were dispersed but I had left. A beautiful honest person took them to the police station where a poor police officer had to count them and do his report."

But the funny thing is, Ms Campbell said was the police wouldn't return her money when she went to collect.

"They can't just hand the money over to me... what I did have didn't marry up to what I said I should have and it's the property of the banks now."

"The Commonwealth Bank has been fantastic. I had to go and see them and now they've got to go to the police station to get their money and it's up to them whether they give it back to me."

Ms Campbell found her "coin collector" through Lismore Information Exchange on Facebook and organised to meet him to "thank him for his honesty".

"This young guy, he's amazing the fact that he did that I just said to him you should be so proud of yourself. It's really redeeming."

Lismore Branch Manager Angelina Fernando said "in stressful situations like this, where our customer thought she lost her money, we were happy to have been able to work with the police and help achieve a positive outcome".

"Being part of the local community gives us an opportunity to connect with our customers in the area so we can be there for them when they need us" she said.