Rare gold coin found in Salvation Army kettle
PORTLAND, Ore. – The red kettles and ringing bells are a ubiquitous sight and sound at stores this time of year as the Salvation Army raises money to help support their charitable projects through the year.
Among the small bills and loose change dropped in the kettle outside Pioneer Place on Friday, the Salvation Army found a valuable surprise: a solid gold coin valued at around $1,700.
Staff members found the South African Krugerrand while sorting through donations over the weekend. They said it was dropped in the Pioneer Place kettle sometime on Saturday.
Staffers noticed the coin because it was bigger and thicker than any typical coin.
"This is enough to provide over 60 families who are in need with an emergency food box, supply Christmas gifts for dozens of kids, or send several kids to camp for a week next summer," said Salvation Army spokesman Lieutenant Ray Dihle.
An anonymous donor also dropped a Krugerrand in another downtown Portland kettle last year. Dihle said these large donations are what help the Salvation Army meet their fundraising goals during the Christmas season.
"If I could meet the person who dropped that coin in our kettle on Friday," said Dihle, "I would simply say, 'Thank you, you made a difference in your community. You helped your neighbor.'"
KATU reporter Lincoln Graves contributed to this report
Rare? Hardly... Vaulable? Of course, but not rare...
Nice gesture.. This is an organization who during the entire year does all they can to make people get back to life like it should be.. ( for lack of better words )Â They make mistakes. of course .. who doesn't.. But I will always give to them my money... I have a dear friend who went to them. they treated him like a real person and today he is a productive taxpayer.. Nice job guys..
This is why I NEVER complain about giving to the SA or their bell ringers. In fact, I'm upping my contributions this coming year.
That's not a "rare" gold coin. That's as common as gold coins come, honestly. 1700 is just what an ounce of gold is going for right now, is all.
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Pretty cool gift!
 @brautigan Exactly...not "rare" at all. Typical media spin, to make it sound better.
@XLRG @brautigan well it's pretty rare to me. I sure don't have any :)
That gold coin could've provided me the funds to purchase a good Pick 6 ticket at the racetrack, a couple cases of beer, and fund a trip for myself to Vegas.
 @JLO I was hardly talking about indulging one's excesses.. I was talking about the fact that SA is a financial empire and that there are charities out there who would use the money to actually help people. SA as a protestant church, uses this money to support their homophobia, with highly paid lobbyists. (No, I don't happen to be gay, it's just an objective statement)
 @SVB7  @JLO Still better then goodwill
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Sorry to hear that. It could have been put to much better use.
Very cool and heart warming. It's nice to see there are still good people out there. :D
Thank you to the generous person who donated these.
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As an aside, Krugerrands are not rare coins. They are probably the most common gold bullion coin out there.
Don't they find one of these every year? Or the person that gave it is going DARN!!! I thought it was a quarter.
Thank you to the person who put this in there. I hope you will receive more than the value of the coin in return for your good deed.
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