Anonymous Donors Across the Country Are Dropping Valuable Coins Into the Salvation Army’s Red Kettles

During the holiday season, the Salvation Army’s red kettles and bell-ringing volunteers are a common sight in front of stores. This annual campaign, which dates back more than 130 years, helps raise money for the Christian charity’s social programs.

Some donors dig around in their purses or open up their wallets to look for spare change to drop into the kettles. But others have been quietly sliding valuable coins—worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars—into Salvation Army buckets across the United States.

This year, the mysterious treasures have turned up in Illinois, Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, California, Kansas, South Dakota, Oregon and North Dakota. It’s not clear whether the donations are connected. But either way, the nonprofit’s leaders are appreciative of the generosity.

“We’re grateful for every penny, to be honest,” says Jeff Walters, who works with the Salvation Army of Marion and Polk Counties in Oregon, to the Salem Reporter’s Abbey McDonald. “But something like this stands out.”

Walters is referring to a 1927 $20 double eagle gold coin, which is worth around $2,600. An anonymous donor dropped the coin into one of the group’s red kettles over Thanksgiving weekend.

“Whoever gave this to us trusts us to put this gold to good use to make a difference in this community,” he adds.

Volunteers in Napa County, California, were counting up the day’s donations a few days before Christmas when they found a South African Krugerrand gold coin among the U.S. currency. It weighed just an ounce, but it may be worth thousands of dollars, per the San Francisco Chronicle’s Nora Mishanec.

Krugerrand coins feature a portrait of Paul Kruger, who served as president of the South African Republic from 1883 to 1900. The coins were first minted in 1967 during a period of international sanctions, with an overarching goal of bringing foreign investment to South Africa, according to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

“This is not a coin you carry in your pocket to toss anywhere,” Larry Carmichael, who works with the Salvation Army of Napa, tells the San Francisco Chronicle. “Whoever had it was intentional about where they were donating it.”

A similar situation unfolded in Washington County, Pennsylvania, where Salvation Army volunteers discovered an Elizabeth II coin wrapped inside a $1 bill. According to CBS Pittsburgh’s Barry Pintar, it was accompanied by a brief note indicating that the donor wished to remain anonymous. After getting the coin appraised, the charity’s leaders learned it was worth more than $2,700, per the Observer-Reporter’s Karen Mansfield.

This is the fourth year in a row that a gold coin has been found in one of the local group’s red kettles.

“What it says to me is that there is still hope for people out here in this world,” says Thomas Perez, who works with the Salvation Army in Washington, to CBS Pittsburgh. “A lot of people have lost hope and think that the world is full of evil and there’s no more love and joy and compassion in this world. This shows me that there is compassion left in this world.”

In Phoenix, volunteers discovered a half-ounce gold American eagle coin in their red kettle. It was attached to a handwritten note that read: “May this gold help the people in need during the Christmas season. Bless you all.” The charity sold the coin for $1,310, reports the Arizona Republic’s Jose R. Gonzalez.

In November, an anonymous donor in Fargo, North Dakota, left a 2016 Australian gold kangaroo coin worth nearly $3,000, per the Forum. Weeks later, someone slipped four gold coins worth collectively around $6,800 into various Salvation Army kettles around town, reports KVRR’s TJ Nelson.

The Salvation Army’s annual red kettle campaign dates back to 1891, when Joseph McFee, one of the group’s leaders in San Francisco, raised money to provide a free Christmas dinner to 1,000 of the city’s poorest residents. These days, the initiative raises millions of dollars every year.

Sarah Kuta | READ MORE

Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.