Next time you find a penny on the street, or under a couch cushion, you might want to scoop it up and store it away -- A Hillsboro man was expected to buy a home theater system Tuesday using more than seven year’s worth of saved coins.

He won't pay with nickels, however.

After emptying the change from his pockets every day for the last seven years into a five-gallon water bottle, Tim Thraves decided to cash in what he estimates to be several thousand dollars in coins at a Portland Coinstar machine.

The machine allows people to transfer the value of their change onto an e-Certificate. Thraver chose a certificate from Circuit City; he will use the money to splurge on a home theater system composed of a large screen TV and a Hi Definition DVD player.

"I want something that both my wife and I can enjoy and since I may be one of the last people on earth without an HDTV, that is what I plan to splurge on,” Thraves said.

He hopes he has enough to cover the cost for the entire home theater set up.

Thraves was inspired to start saving his change by a friend who received a car for his 16th birthday funded entirely by his dad's change, which had been saved since the son's birth.

Coinstar estimates there is more than $103 million in loose change sitting idle in the Portland area.

People interested in changing their coins into a certificate can do so at the Coinstar Center located at the Albertsons on 12102 SE Division Street.