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.)
When I was younger I played as Santa to my baby sister. It was funny because she didn’t recognize me, but was happy as can be when I brought in many gifts.
Email is ps08031984@gmail.com. I loved the article shows that there are still good humans out there
1 year, about 2 days before Christmas when I was a young child, I watched my father approach a man who frequented the dumpsters behind a restautant near our house. My father and I were on our way back from a fast food restaurant. I didn’t know he had purchased an extra meal specifically in case we saw this doen-on-his-luck man. He gave the man the meal. That always srayed with me and was tge first time I recall understanding giving to others less fortunate. I try to make a similar example of myself for my son now.
I’d rather not say what I did, but here’s my entry!
Almost a year ago, while standing at a deli at a local grocery store, I began a conversation with a fellow sharper. I made several comments about certain Cold cuts and cheese. The elderly gentleman told me that he would enjoy them however he was on a fixed income and had to adhere to his shopping list. I feel sympathy for the gentleman, although in my age bracket it was obvious he was in in the same financial position I was after he left I proceeded to order cold cuts another deli items. As the people in the deli were processing the order, I want to the register and purchased a $50 gift card, I picked up the deli items took him to the gentleman along with the gift card so he was able to pay for them at the register. The men actually have tears in his eyes. The Jennemann didn’t want to except it. I told him it was a Christmas present from one retiree to another.
I like giving gifts to my family.
I have donated equivalent an oz of gold ($1,200) over 5 years to build our local new Church.
I work at a local theme park, and each year we have a Christmas Town with various holiday themed attractions. Our photo with Santa is pretty popular and this being a weekend, particularly busy. A foreign couple were visiting, with two small children who were unhappy at being stuck in a foreign country, without any family or friends, and waiting in a lengthy line to see a guy in a cheap Santa outfit. However, this was not your typical “Santa”, this was someone who groomed themselves for this holiday all year because they enjoyed playing the part so much. In this case, they happened accross one of the best Santa’s around, who also by chance spoke fluent Norwegian. I have trouble describing the exhaustion turned to amazement when the children entered the room to meet Santa, and he spoke fluent Norwegian to them, while carrying off the impersonation immaculately. The atmosphere of that meeting was one I will never forget, with all of the Elves involved in tears from the wonderment displayed by those 2 small children, and the spirit of Christmas that existed in that moment.
Always great service.
I’ll gladly drop a piece of my silver round into salvation army kettle if provident gives me a 1gm bar. Just for good luck.
To all: Please donate (time or money) to a cause you support this holiday season and help someone in need.
How neat is that!
I like giving silver and collectible coins to my grandchildren so that I may pass on the history, the culture and the real value of precious metals the world has shared since the beginning of time. It is my hope they too will carry on the legacy and trust of precious metals at home and in hand.
There’s nothing like free gold for the Holidays….
May His light shine down upon you and serve as a beacon to direct your path in the direction He would have you go. With joy and happiness today and all days to come.
Always interesting items – and deals – at Provident Metals.
Salvation army is a great organization. Its great to see such generasity.
Your email story has inspired me to give back in a different way this year and I have never thought of giving my silver and gold into a red bucket before. I have been selling off my collection but I am going to hold back my 1/4 gold Eagle MS70 and a tube of 1oz silver Eagles for a Salvation Army bell ringer this year. Thank you Provident for the fantastic idea of giving back this year. Hope all of you have a Merry Christmas!
For a couple years around x-mas I was passing out gift wrapped burned documentary DVD films in paper sleeves on topics like The Federal Reserve and the true story of our monetary system (Think: America Freedom To Fascism, The Money Masters, or Zeitgeist pts.2&3). Sometimes it was very anonymous and would just slip them under a doorway to a business or non-profit.
Happy holidays to all. Remember this is the season of giving but helping and giving continues all year
As a child, my parents taught me the gift of giving. Across the street from our house was another house that had 4 widows that lived together. They were up there in age and didn’t always have the capability to decorate. On the outside of our home directly across from the widows front window was a huge pine tree in our yard. I remember each year my dad would string lights from our roof all around this tree (30 feet tall). So, every day and night during the Christmas season, if the widows opened there blinds they had a huge Christmas tree to look at. During the week, we would leave small gifts on their door, ring the door bell, and run and hide to watch them. 35 years later now, My wife and I try to instill the gift of giving with our children in giving to others in need.
Last year my wife and I were able to help a family that had 5 children, one of which was in my youngest sons class. Throughout the first part of the school year my son was giving away a good amount of his school supplies and after we had replaced things a couple of different times I finally confronted him about it and when he said he had been giving the supplies to a friend, I promptly told him to stop… that his friends parents could get his school supplies. He didnt argue his point and just listened to what I had to say and I was totally unaware that this child parents did not have means to get the supplies. Time ticked on, and my wife and I went to a Thanksgiving program for my youngest boy and after it was over his teacher approached me and asked if he could have a few minutes of my time. I walked out of earshot of my children with him and he began complimenting Daniel and his actions toward the boy and others in his classroom. He informed me that Daniel had still been giving the boy things and sharing lunch items with him as well as praying with students and leading the whole class to acknowledge the teacher in responses with respect like yes sir and no sir. He informed me that it is rare that children do it now days. He shook my hand and complimented how my sons character was. We talked more about the boy and it was made known to me that the boy had 4 other siblings and that they were all going without. I felt so small for not talking with my son about his reason for giving the items to his friend.
My wife and I learned a lot about being a cheerful giver from our 2nd grader. One of the best and proud moments a parent can ask for. After talking it over with my wife and praying on it, we decided to adopt the family for Christmas and through Gods love were able to have some amazing doors opened up for us so that we were not only able to take care of Christmas for the kids but were also able to replace some appliances that were needed in the home and able to provide winter wardrobe, shoes, summer wardrobe, next school years wardrobe and next years school supplies for the children.
I am so thankful for my children that God has blessed me with and that he performed a mirical for that family by using us and in that miracle for them it was a mirical fot us as well.
It is amazing when you are humbled and taught how to love others by you children.
I hope this story can bring you even a fraction of the joy that it brings me to recount it and its effect on our family.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
This is an awesome giveaway!!! Thank you Provident!!!
And they came bearing gifts; gold, frankincense and myrh
Merry Christmas. Excellent giveaway. Thanks for the opportunity to win.
Absolutely Amazing & Inspiring, May it makes all better givers from the Heart
Two years ago I was on my college campus studying for finals and a girl came up to me and gave me a christmas card and trotted away, inside was a note full of good tiding and wishing luck on finals and to have a happy holidays AND a $20 starbucks gift card. To this day I have no clue who she is, despite actively trying to find her. I have the gift card on my cork board and it still brings me smiles.
I have introduced my kids into silver and gold coins. Last year they got some coins from Santa they were excited. This year my 5 year old put gold on her Christmas list. I hope Santa come through.
Thanks, would love to win a good bar.
One year I gave my wife a framed poster from her favorite band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, signed by all the band members, and the poster was from the year she graduated highschool. She absolutely melted. Still her favorite thing in this house, probably even more favored than me…lol.