Anonymous Gold Coin Donations
A tradition has developed in the United States where, in some places, gold coins are anonymously inserted into the kettles in which the bell ringers collect donations. The tradition appears to have started in the Midwest when the first known drop of a gold coin was put into a kettle in Crystal Lake, Illinois in 1982. Since this drop, many others have taken to dropping not only gold coins, but also other bullion and rare coins, gold medals, and jewelry.
Some of the finds include:
- Various bullion coins.
- American Gold Eagle
- Krugerrand
- Rare coins
- United States Quarter Eagle
- United States Double Eagle
- Counterfeit 1804 silver dollar
- Jewelry
- ⅓-carat diamond ring
- Five gold rings (invoking the song The Twelve Days of Christmas)
- Check for $14,845.00
- Gold teeth
In addition, Salvation Army kettles have also collected worthless items like candy, lint and other assorted trash.
Read more about this topic: Christmas Kettle
Famous quotes containing the words gold and/or coin:
“Perfect alchemists I keep who can transmute substances without end, and thus the corner of my garden is an inexhaustible treasure-chest. Here you can dig, not gold, but the value which gold merely represents; and there is no Signor Blitz about it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The moral equalizes all; enriches, empowers all. It is the coin which buys all, and which all find in their pocket. Under the whip of the driver, the slave shall feel his equality with saints and heroes.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)