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Gift of gold: 1904 gold coin donated to Salvation Army kettle in Orlando

By Kelly Healey
By Kelly Healey
The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign received a golden gift Thursday in Orlando.
To the organization’s surprise, sitting among the usual donations of dollar bills and change, was a 1904 gold coin, which contains 1 ounce of pure gold, The Salvation Army said.
“We see generosity on many levels this time of year. Our Red Kettle Program provides us with necessary funding to provide services for those in need all year round. We are grateful for this generous donation and wish the donor a blessed Christmas season,” Salvation Army Capt. Ken Chapman said.
The coin, which was donated at the Publix on Sand Lake Road in the Venezia Plaza, has an estimated value of $1,350, the organization said.  

ORLANDO, Fla. — TRENDING NOW:

But this donation isn’t the first of its kind this year, or within the past five years around the U.S.
Earlier this week, a Salvation Army of Metro Detroit representative said an anonymous donor dropped a 1980 South African gold Krugerrand into a red kettle at a Kroger in St. Clair Shores.
In 2016, The Salvation Army Corps of Springfield, Ohio, got a kick-start to its holiday fundraising when they found a gold coin worth $1,000 in one of its red kettles.
It was the second time in two years that a South African gold coin wrapped in a $100 bill has been dropped in a red kettle at the Kroger store on Bechtle Avenue.
The money raised in the kettles goes toward community programming for The Salvation Army throughout the year.
“Eighty-two cents of every dollar The Salvation Army spends is used to support those services in 5,000 communities nationwide,” the organization wrote in a release.

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