An American family found almost $1 million in cash - but immediately handed it into police.

Dollars

Dollars

Emily Schantz and her family hit the bag of money as they were driving in Virginia, where they discovered that it held a life-changing sum of cash.

Emily told local television: ''Inside of the bag, there were plastic baggies, and they were addressed with something that said 'cash vault'.''

She immediately phoned the local Sheriff's Office to tell them about the discovery, as she thought the family should ''do the right thing and return it''.

The cash is thought to belong to the postal service and the family were thanked by the authorities for their selfless gesture.

Police officer Scott Moser, who went to visit the family, said: ''For someone so honest and willing to give that almost $1 million back, it's exceptional on their part.

''Their two sons were there, so I put the lights on for them, but we are proud and they represented this county well by being so honest.''