In 2012, a Canadian student at Mount Royal University literally nickel-and-dimed his school’s business office by paying his tuition completely in rolled up coins.

To prove it could be done, junior business management major Anthony Sequera decided to pay his tuition of $6,475.80 — entirely with $1 bills.

“It’s something that I’ve been curious about for a while,” Sequera said. “Everyone pays electronically or with checks. I’ve just always wondered what $6,500 looks like in ones.”

Sequera said getting that many $1 bills was not easy. He and his roommate visited three different banks to come up with the correct change, which he boxed up and presented to the business office on Sept 5.

“I ended up blaming it on my mom,” Sequera said. “They asked if I was paying in cash or with a check. I told them my mom sent my payment in this box and that I needed to borrow some scissors to open it.”

Sequera said it came as a shock to the employees of the business office. One member even asked him if he had a career in exotic dancing, which he denied with a smirk.

“It was a first for me,” Perry Griner, university cashier, said. “I have worked here for 16 years, and I have never had someone pay me that much money in that way before.”

Sequera said the department accepted the bills after he declined their request to exchange the money. The workers told him that it would take a few days to count it. He even returned later to deliver the final 80 cents, which he left in his pocket.

“I finally got to see all that money laid out in ones,” Sequera said. “It really gives you a good perspective about how much we’re actually paying – even if our school is one of the cheapest.”