GoldCoins

Why Do People Put Rare Coins In Salvation Army Kettles?

Filed under: Charity

It's a holiday phenomenon that warms the heart. Each December, the Salvation Army kettles and bell ringers come out and the stories of rare coins being dropped into kettles begin. So far this season I've watched them come in from Tennessee, Indiana, Washington and other places.

So what's the deal with all the rare coins? I asked Donn Pearlman, a spokesman for the Professional Numismatists Guild and a former Chicago journalist and broadcaster who reported over the years on many of the early gold coin donations to the Salvation Army about the annual appearance of gold coins in the collection kettles. He says that the tradition of people generously and anonymously putting gold coins into Salvation Army kettles began in December 1982 when someone placed five, one-ounce South African Krugerrands into a kettle at a shopping mall in the Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake, Illinois. Krugerrands or Canadian Maple Leaf gold coins subsequently were dropped into a kettle at that same location every December for the next five years, spurring stories about the phantom philanthropist and the Salvation Army's Christmas-time fund-raising efforts.

Tags: gold coins, GoldCoins, salvation army, salvation army charity, salvation army donation, salvation army kettle, SalvationArmy, SalvationArmyCharity, SalvationArmyDonation, SalvationArmyKettle

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Secret Note Prompts Treasure Hunt

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

I love a good treasure hunt and the AP has a great story of one that is going on in Illinois. Patty Henken bought an old rocking chair for $200 at an auction and when she removed the seat she found an envelope with "Finders Keepers" typewritten on it. Inside, a key was taped to a note which gave directions for finding a lead chest filled with gold coins buried underground. So far the treasure hasn't been unearthed but that's not for lack of trying. A search of the site, now a vacant lot, with a donated backhoe last week did not yield any major discovery, only a cistern with bricks and antique bottles. The note was signed by a "Chauncey Wolcott" and appears to have been written sometime after World War II since it says the chest "cannot be located by metal detector" and that is around the time that metal detectors first became popular. It could all be a hoax but Henken plans to dig at the site again. Here's hoping she finds something great.

UPDATE: Could this be a prank from beyond the grave? It turns out that the alias belonged to a notorious prankster.

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Tags: gold coins, GoldCoins, treasure hunt, TreasureHunt