Anonymous Donor Tosses $1,200 Coin in Red Kettle

A clue in a national mystery showed up in St. Clair Shores this past weekend.

The Salvation Army bellringers often get spare change, sometimes a few small bills and occasionally larger denominations in the annual Red Kettle campaign that raises money for the poor.

In recent years, though, South African Krugerrand coins worth thousands of dollars have been showing up, thanks to some generous mystery donors.

Over the weekend, for the second time in as many years, someone slipped a 1980 Krugerrand worth $1,200 in the Kroger store at the corner of Marter and and Jefferson in St. Clair Shores, the Detroit Free Press reports.

The Salvation Army said in a written statement that the coin will feed 10 hungry people for a year or buy enough coats to keep 48 children warm.

The Krugerrands, first minted in 1967, were the first gold bullion coins produced in exact 1-ounce size. Tens of millions of them have been struck since then, and they’re popular among coin collectors.

For several years, Salvation Army officials have been reporting similar acts of generosity across the continental United States, Hawaii and in Canada, according to the Salvation Army blog. Diamond rings, wedding bands, gold nuggets and other valuable items also show up in the kettles.

Tell Us:

• What acts of generosity have you witnessed? In what other ways can people help the poor during the holidays?

In one of the most famous acts of generosity, a donation from a secret “Santa Claus” that showed up in a kettle in Joplin, MO, included five, $20,000 checks hidden in folded dollar bills, according to the blog

The Red Kettle campaign dates back to 1891 in San Francisco, when Capt. Joseph McFee vowed to provide a free Christmas dinner for 1,000 of the city’s poorest and most destitute and residents.

Without funding, he devised the Red Kettle campaign, an American iteration of “Simpson’s Pot,” a large, iron kettle he recalled from his sailor days in Liverpool, England, where passersby tossed coins to help the poor.

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Photo via Creative Commons