If you're saying that you own the means of your production while working under an employer, then we might have different definitions of these words.
Screwdrivers are a trivial component in the "barrier to entry" to starting a business. Those extra bucks to you can be a very significant "surplus value" for most employees.
It's heartbreaking from a psychological perspective. He felt like those coins were in his grasp, and every month he spent on this search was the one he'd find it. So he kept doubling down. π