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 anonymous, gold and/or coin:
“Public opinion, a vulgar, impertinent, anonymous tyrant who deliberately makes life unpleasant for anyone who is not content to be the average man.”
—W.R. (William Ralph)
“We are born with luck
which is to say with gold in our mouth.
As new and smooth as a grape,
as pure as a pond in Alaska,
as good as the stem of a green bean
we are born and that ought to be enough....”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“It is not funny that a man should be killed, but it is sometimes funny that he should be killed for so little, and that his death should be the coin of what we call civilization.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)