It's official: the scratchie concealing the biggest prize in NSW this year was sold right here in Tamworth. And the best part? It could still be yours.
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Australia's Instant Scratch-Its top prize postcodes have been revealed, and the Country Music Capital claimed one of the luckiest top gongs.
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The biggest individual instant win in NSW was taken out in Tamworth this year with a whopping $520,000 scratched by one lucky punter.
However the ticket's treasure, sold at Memories Newsagency and Gift Gallery at the City Plaza in January, remains unclaimed.
Cath Hobson from Memories said it was most likely from a Christmas gift pack, so urged everyone to check their cards, pressies and, she says, glove boxes.
"We would absolutely love to reunite the winner with the money," she enthused.
Since the COVID-19 restrictions came into play, she has seen many people coming in with wads and bundles of scratchies to check, found around the house during lockdown clean-outs."
But still no one has brought in the golden ticket to collect their fortune.
The postcode research was released by the Lott, Australia's official lotteries, ahead of one of their busiest times of the year: Father's Day.
Ms Hobson's tip is to make sure you bring scratchies back to the store to check before throwing them out, as the rules differ between games and they can be misread.
"With Father's Day coming up our gift packs are very popular, much like Christmas time," she explained, hoping that the winning ticket hadn't been trashed.
Across Australia, the highest amount won on a single scratchie this year was in Rosanna, Victoria, for an eye-watering $1,000,000.
But NSW was the state with the highest collective cash wins for the 2020 financial year. The data found our state had 52 top prize wins, making up a total of $3.4 million in prize money.
Marrickville Metro Newsagency in NSW was the only place to sell three top prize winning tickets.
"While we do see these clusters from time to time, it's important to remember a top prize Instant Scratch-Its ticket could be anywhere," she said.
"Players often tell us that they are superstitious about where and how they buy their tickets, whether they always buy from the same outlet, or always choose a particular ticket."
