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.)
Charity during the holidays is the most memorable. Donating and volunteering are the most gratifying.
That is a very nice accompanying article. Thanks for sharing!
The best Gift, is the Gift of Salvation. Given and paid for by Jesus.
Christmas of 2011 I believe I was at the store picking up a few items standing in line behind some random guy I looked down and there was $200 sitting on the floor I picked it up and tapped the guy on the shoulder to ask if it was his (being the holidays and all,lol) he looks at me pauses for a few seconds and got a big smile on his face then said “No, must be yours” then turned right back around and finished his transaction.
I really needed that money that year and will never forget that awesome dude -I just feel that it was his the way he was smiling- Now I PAY IT FORWARD Always.
Happy holidays to everyone at Provident and to my fellow precious metal enthusiasts. Blessings in the new year.
An anonymous shopper paid off everyone’s layaway at Walmart last year! How cool to be able to do that! My wife and I enjoy giving $100 tips to servers at restaurants. The reaction is worth every nickel!
I had a friend with health problems, who was in and out of the hospital regularly. I help her out where I could but she was proud and wouldn’t take much in the way of money. She was always cold but couldn’t afford to turn her heat up any higher. I had suggested a space heater and she said others had suggested the same thing but she couldn’t afford to buy one and wouldn’t let me. So I bought her a small space heater and shipped it to her with no return address and just a typed note that said “Be Warm.” She called me crying asking if I knew who would do that for her, I simply said someone who wants you to be warm and doesn’t want you to feel indebted to them.
I was given a free silver gram from someone anonymous back in 2013 and since then I have been a investor who started and glad I got the surprise.
Ima drop that in a red kettle in Bowling Green KY!!
This is such an awesome article!
I love gold hope I win
Its been several years now but one Christmas I remember very well. Being disabled money can sometimes be tight and I was shopping at Kmart which seemed to take forever because I kept putting stuff in my cart then pulling stuff out, eventually deciding the only way this will work is to go to the Layaway counter. I put all my stuff for Christmas on the counter the total came $135 so I reached into my purse and paid them the 10% or something like that $14 and went home. I went back in a week to make another payment of $10 and the Clerk said it was paid in full, I said that’s not possible there has to be a mistake, please check again, again the clerk replied, its paid in full. Someone that was standing in line the day I placed it in Layaway must of felt I needed to be blessed that day and they were right. It was the kindest act that I’ve experienced and it sure made my Christmas. If your out there and reading this “Thank you so much!’ And even though my situation is still the same I know do my best to help someone, a total stranger, a person that needs some love… every Christmas season.
Happy holidays
Great article and a beautiful bar. Thanks for the opportunity.
I would love to just look and hold the gold bar in my hands want to win (fingers crossed) PLEASE CHOOSE ME!!!!!!!!!
Vacation time for a coworker who had a sick child. Enough of us donated time he could take 6 weeks off. He’s a great guy, if anyone in the world deserved it he’s the guy.
Not just this time of year but ALL thru the year I have found it is much better to give than to receive. I may not be able to drop an ounce of gold or a stack of hundreds but it is still a pleasure to give what one may not suspect to receive. To see the expressions are priceless at times.
If more would do this, even if it is in a small form, the joy is well worth it and we would see and enjoy all the year….. GOD bless!
Love dealing with this company.
It’s a wonderful time of the year !!!!!
This is a nice article.
One year when our girls were little we were staying in an RV park at Christmas. All the people in the park put Christmas Gifts on our step for them.
How generous some people are to drop gifts like the one’s listed above . It inspires me to be more mindful when passing the red kettles .
I only drop spare change in the red kettle, but allways give money to people in need if I have can. I think homeless people need a little extra this time of year.
Never played Santa but have been hiring one to come to our family Christmas party in the past. We have many younguns in our family and one very special little lady my niece who was born with a disease similar to Cerebral Palsy. Confined to a wheel chair most of her life and cannot speak but very much aware of her surroundings. I love to see her face light up when Santa is in the house. Something I will continue for as long as she is with us.
Merry Christmas to you and your family
I’ve always had a sore spot for the holidays growing up. It wasn’t until a year and a half ago, I got married and her four kids gave me their Christmas lists. I have NEVER felt the joy that comes from seeing four beaming faces on Christmas Day. Merry Christmas to all, and to all happy holidays!
Giving is good karma and is often returned in more ways than one
There is an option inside Kroger to purchase Angel trees for 25 dollars. So even when you don’t have the ability to donate very much get an angel tree which helps on a local level.
Be Humble.
This is a good dea.