(Kitco News) – The holiday season is a time for giving, and while The Salvation Army’s ubiquitous red kettles are a familiar sight for holiday shoppers, the loose change tossed into them sometimes contains real treasure.
According to a report from KTVU Fox News, Salvation Army volunteers in Napa, California who were sorting last Saturday’s donations were stunned to find a rare solid gold coin worth thousands of dollars in one of the kettles.
One-ounce South African Krugerrand found in Salvation Army kettle. Photo: The Salvation Army The coin turned out to be a one-ounce South African Krugerrand, which is worth over $2,600 at today’s spot price. According to Salvation Army Captain Larry Carmichael, the kettle was outside a local grocery store and was staffed by volunteers from Kiwanis of Greater Napa.
“We are incredibly grateful for this generous and thoughtful donation,” Carmichael said in a statement. “It’s a reminder of the power of community and the incredible impact one person can make.”
But was it overwhelming generosity – or an oversight?
The Salvation Army’s Grant Hansen acknowledged that it was impossible to know whether the gold coin was purposefully donated or was dropped into the kettle by mistake.
“It is a bit of a mystery who donated the coin and how intentional it was,” Hansen said, but added that any coin owner who knew its true value likely wouldn't be walking around with it in their pocket.
“My hope is that whoever donated it knew what they were doing, and it was an intentional gift,” Hansen said.
Carmichael said he believes the coin was an intentional gift, as it's so much heavier and larger than other coins that it would be hard to drop it into the kettle by mistake.
And it was a similar story across the country in Illinois, where in an even more surprising twist, two brothers each found a gold coin in separate Salvation Army red kettles this month.
Brothers Terry Steward (left) and Chuck Steward (right) each found a gold coin in The Salvation Army red kettles. Photo: Mike and Donna Mellenthin
The first gold coin was discovered by Salvation Army volunteer Terry Steward on December 7 in the Walmart kettle in Wood River, Illinois. The second coin was found by Terry’s brother, Chuck Steward, on December 20 at the Schnucks in nearby Godfrey.
The gold coins are each valued at $245, for a combined total of $490.
The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle campaign ends on December 24.
