While you’re out buying gifts for everyone on your nice list, chances are you’ll come across a sure sign that Christmas is fast approaching: A Salvation Army bell ringer and one of their iconic red kettles. Most of us will drop in whatever spare change we can quickly dig out of our pockets as we rush by. But for some passerby, the red kettles present an opportunity to play secret Santa in the most generous ways.
Over the years, substantial red kettle donations from anonymous donors have come in many interesting forms. Here are just a few of the valuable oddities that have filled those red buckets in recent years:
Diamonds are a kettle’s best friend?
2011: A worker at a Salvation Army collection center in Shawnee, Kansas noticed a wadded-up piece of paper lying among the coins and bills. He almost threw it in the trash, but decided to open it to be safe. He was astonished to discover that a solitary diamond had been tucked inside. The identity of the generous donor was never found.
To have and to hold….
2011: An engagement ring and wedding band, along with an appraisal, were tucked inside a dollar bill and anonymously slipped into a red kettle outside a grocery store in Henderson, North Carolina. The donor was never identified.
2014: In Cambridge, Massachusetts, a widow placed her engagement ring and wedding band into a kettle with a note saying that the donation was in honor her late husband, who was a “giver.” Another widow later purchased them from the Salvation Army for $21,000 — far more than their appraised value — and returned the rings to the original donor.
A long lost treasure
2016: In Sebastian, Florida, an unidentified passerby placed a 300-year-old gold escudo directly into the hands of the bell ringer. The coin, worth several thousand dollars, had been recovered off the Florida coast from the wrecks of Spanish treasure ships known as the 1715 Plate Fleet. The donor didn’t want to drop the rare treasure into the kettle because he feared it would get mixed in with the other loose coins.
Cold hard cash
2015: A very generous donor dropped a $10,000 check into a red kettle in Jacksonville, FL.
2014: A mysterious donor dropped bundles of ten $100 bills at a time into kettles all over the Minneapolis area, totaling over $14,000.
Silver Bells (“bars”?)
2015: In Syracuse, New York, The Salvation Army received a donation that was too big to fit into a kettle – a 100-ounce silver bar valued around $1,600. The generous donor wished to remain anonymous and was never identified.
Putting their money where their mouth is
2014: Among the most unusual items found in red kettles so far, Salvation Army spokesmen in both Florida and Missouri reported receiving gold teeth in the same year. An anonymous person put four gold teeth in an Orlando kettle, while another donated a single gold tooth in Kansas City.
Worth their weight in gold
The first time a Salvation Army organization reported a gold coin donation was in 1982, when an anonymous donor dropped a Krugerrand into a red kettle north of Chicago. According to legend, the benevolent donor was a World War II veteran who wanted to give something in return for the charity’s service that he received on the front line. Today, Krugerrands and other types of gold coins show up in the Salvation Army’s red kettles all across the country each year, providing solid gold evidence that there is indeed a Santa Claus. For example:
Since 1998: In Fort Collins, Colorado, a pair of 1-ounce gold Krugerrands were slipped into red kettles by the same anonymous donor for almost two decades. The undercover giver always returned later to The Salvation Army to buy back the coins at $1,000 more than their value. Notes and poems in the same handwriting were often attached to the donations, until 2002 – when the coins were accompanied by a note stating that the decades-long secret Santa had died, but the tradition would be continued yearly by the family in his or her honor. And it hasn’t stopped since.
2018: This year, gold coins worth several thousands of dollars have already been anonymously dropped into Salvation Army kettles around the Chicago metro area, including several Gold American Eagles and Gold Krugerrands.
Which brings us to….
Our December giveaway!
We would love to hear about a unique gifting experience you’ve had during the holiday season. Tell us about a time you enjoyed playing “Santa” to put a smile on a special someone’s face, or received the perfect gift at just the right time from an anonymous giver. We may share a story or two on our Facebook page, as well!
Commenting below will serve as your entry for our December giveaway. Submit your comment (one comment only please) by December 31st, and one winner will be randomly selected on January 1st to receive an Argor-Heraeus 1 gram gold bar! Whether you decide to keep it or play secret Santa with it is up to you!
*(No Scrooges allowed! Inappropriate comments will be deleted and disqualified.)
I was really touched by these stories and it has encouraged me to do better at giving and blessing others.
Our local town always does “shop with a cop”. The cops treat several children in need to the local WalMart and buy them Christmas. The first time I saw this in action, I had went to WalMart and every police car in town was there! I thought, do I really want to go in there..what the heck is going down? Then I found out and every year since I try to make a donation to help this effort. It seems to be a great way for the cops to make positive contact with the most at risk kids. So should I win, please forward to the Skiatook, OK police dept.
We live on a road that cul-de-sacs at the end and since I was about the biggest belly guy on the road I was picked to dress up as SANTA. I had a bell and walked up and down the street doing my best SANTA HO! HO! HO! waking the moms and dads and their little ones that Christmas day back about 25 years ago. The looks on the kids faces was the sweetet, most fun blessing I’ve ever experienced. Many of the families have moved away since then but I wonder how many of those little kids remember that fat, bell-ringing, Ho-Ho’ing SANTA on that one early Christmas morning so long ago…
God bless America!
A true example of how the Universe works. One must give before they can get
I think it was 4th graid. We had a small play with just my classroom I got cast as Santa put on the sute and stuffed a pellow down my pants. Wow that was 1989.
I wish I were in the position to donate some sort of gold to the needy.
However, unfortunately, I am one of the needy myself.
I love giving gifts and surprising people during the holidays!
My first Christmas pulling a paycheck I got my father an exact duplicate of a chain he’d sold to make ends meet years before. I’ll remember the look he had for the rest of my life.
Happy holidays to you and yours truly!
Feliz Navidad y prospero año!
I had a friend who was hospitalized on Christmas Eve after doing so much to prepare for Christmas for others. We moved the celebration to her hospital room.
When I was homeless someone shared with me their bread. It was really great.
God bless the USA
I am VERY thankful for my career and family ! PEACE ✌️ ON EARTH !
Thank you to Provident metals for on sale products since I’m on a tight budget. Hope to win ! Thanks for the opportunity.
Forty bucks is forty bucks… I’ll gladly accept a free gram of gold!
Silver and Gold…
Very interesting donations
The generosity of people, especially this time of year, never ceases to amaze me! Keep up the good work
To one who give much, much in return shall be given.
Praise be to God.
Giving low income kids clothes and a bike!
it’s always nice to be the recipient of drive-thru pay-it-ahead, and then to be part of keeping it going
Anytime I see a homeless/struggling person asking for money, I always offer to buy them a meal. Recently a father and his young daughter were sitting outside a convenience store asking for spare money. I didn’t have any but offered to buy them food. He stated that someone just bought them a meal but stated his daughter would like an apple juice. With his permission I took her into the convenience store and bought her apple juice and what ever candy she wanted. She asked me if she could get a pack of gum for her dad because he would want it and I gladly obliged. I have been very blessed by God almighty and it is the very least I can do to give back. God bless you all this Christmas season and always remember to pay it forward!
Peace and Love
May all of you at provident metals have a wonderful Christmas.
Sharing is caring!
I anonymously paid off someone I knew (non relative) medical bill that I know was putting a lot of stress on their family. It was even more fulfilling since it was near Christmas.
Happy holidays everyone! Would it be wonderful to give the gift of gold this holiday season? I don’t own any gold, yet, but I sure am looking forward to owning my own very soon! God bless you and your family this holiday season!
Something pure and honest about the Bell Ringers who make this story worth telling!
Last year I decided to take my Christmas bonus of $500 and bought toys and went to my nearby family shelter and shifted boys and girls whom were in need. With a gift like this I would be able to use this accept and buy double the gifts this year, with the hope that I could gift every single child and not leave any without a gift .
Tis the season.
I mounted a Silver Eagle in a wood base and left it on a co- workers desk. He figured out it was me do to the wood work.
When I asked my oldest brother what he wanted for Christmas he said “world peace”. I said it was a tall order but I would do my best. So I did a trick gift where a large wrapped box contained 7 progressively smaller wrapped boxes until inside the smallest box was a mason jar where I had pureed some fresh peas with water in a blender. It had a label on it “whirled peas”. We all got a good laugh and laughter is priceless.
FREE gold wooooooo!!!