A WOMAN who scooped £82,000 on a scratchcard put it down to a "lucky charm" she found a day earlier.
Senora Smallwood used it to scratch off the numbers to reveal her jackpot joy.
Senora, of Silver Spring in Maryland, US, was so stunned at scooping the $100,000 top prize she had to pull over on the drive home.
She credits her win to a "lucky nickel" she had come by a day earlier.
Senora uses rare, pre-2005 nickels to scratch off her tickets, believing they bring her good luck.
And she happened to come by one of the five cent coins the day before she won her prize.
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She bought a ticket from a petrol station and used the coin to scratch off the numbers in her car.
But she says she still did not believe she had really won as she was driving home to celebrate.
So she pulled over to double-check she had read the card correctly.
She recalled: "I know it could not have won $100,000. I must have read that wrong."
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She then texted her sister in disbelief along with a photo of the ticket: "Tell me that is not a $100,000 winner?"
Senora, 61, says she plans to put part of the cash towards her new home and use the rest for her granddaughter's university fees.
The Maryland Lottery said: "Senora Smallwood of Silver Spring couldn't wait to scratch off her new batch of instant tickets.
"In fact, she didn't even get out of her car before she began scratching off the games, only to discover a $100,000 top-prize win on the $100,000 Extreme Cash instant ticket.
"The Montgomery County scratch-off fan was still thinking about the lucky $30 instant ticket while driving and wound up pulling the car off to the side of the road to get a second look at the game.
"She confirmed her big win and sent a text to her sister."
The lotto organiser added: "The lucky lady usually buys scratch-offs four times a week and has been a loyal player for more than 20 years.
"She also has a superstition, as she prefers to use old nickels from before 2005 to scratch off her instant tickets.
"Senora won $5,000 on a scratch-off using an old nickel but said it is hard to find those coins.
"She just happened to obtain an old nickel a day before she won her $100,000 prize."
Another punter in Maryland won three times in five years including $100,000 in June.
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She revealed her winning strategy involves researching which scratchcard games have been on sale for a long time with no big winners.
But she admitted it also depends on luck – and superstition over which shop she buys tickets from.
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