At the end of the rainbow...

Finn and Mimi followed the rainbow, and it led to... the window sill in Carlos' kitchen. 
Where a Cadbury Roses metal tin full of coins was awaiting them. For you see, Uncle Carlos doesn't do change. Using coins for payment is so tiring. It requires lightning-quick calculations. And coins deform pockets, it's a well known fact. So Carlos uses notes to pay, but anything under €1 (the smallest coin he feels able to handle) lands in the Cadbury box. 
As Carlos' move to a place of his own (paid for in €1 coins) draws to a close, it was time to take the Cadbury tin to Tesco in Honeypark, where they have the "Magic Coin Machine" (at 10% charge for converting your coins into something more manageable like banknotes, it is rather magic indeed). 
First there was a bet. Each participant in Operation Carlos Doesn't Do Change was asked to estimate the value of the pot. 
Carlos, who doesn't do change in even small quantities, does definitely not do the carrying of a full box of coins, and I was the one handling this hernia-inducing cargo. 
The kids had much fun at the Magic Machine. It was a bit like a Jackpot machine in reverse. Instead of spitting out coins, it was swallowing them hungrily. The noise is exactly the same though, a metallic cascade of promises, and bejesus did it get some attention in the check-out area. 
But thanks to Mimi and Finn's expert handling of the (surprisingly precious) cargo, the Magic Machine was fed in about 7 minutes (if you pour the coins too fast, it gets an indigestion, and disaster strikes). 
The amount was surprisingly high, even after the 10% commission, and Mimi was the winner, Finn the runner-up. 
She collected her €20 prize (Carlos is as generous as he is lazy) and Finn got €15, and they got a tub of sweets each, and much excitement and fun.
Me? I got the hernia. 

How much was in the pot of gold? (I am afraid that there is no prize for online players, the sweets are already working their way through my kids' digestive systems).