The money was being collected for the Salvation Army’s annual Red Kettle Campaign but this surprise has taken the area by storm, as locals are trying to figure out who dropped it in the bucket.
A rare gold coin that was wrapped inside a $5 bill was dropped into a Vermont Salvation Army donation bucket earlier this month, according to reports.
The mystery donation was found in the bucket in the parking lot of a Walmart at the Berlin Mall on Dec. 10, according to WPTZ-TV.
The gold coin is reportedly worth about $2,000, according to KKTV.
The money was being collected for the Salvation Army’s annual Red Kettle Campaign, but this surprise has taken the area by storm as locals are trying to figure out who placed it inside the bucket.
“It started off like any other night,” Maj. Keith Jache of the Salvation Army told WCAX. “So me and a couple of our volunteers were sitting around, we were counting the money for the night and all of a sudden a $5 bill came out and it was tape. And our first thing was like, who is trying to be funny? There was a gold coin in there. You’ve heard of it happening in other places and they’re usually worth a couple hundred dollars, so when we got it appraised and he said, ‘Yes, it is real and it is worth $2,000,’ we were overly happy and overly blessed to receive it.”
Whoever dropped the coin, Jache and the rest of the Salvation Army are full of appreciation.
“We stand out here in all kinds of weather and we try to raise as much funds as we can so we can help the most people,” he told WCAX.
This wasn’t the first time a gold coin has been dropped in a Salvation Army bucket at the same location: In both 2006 and 2007, two 'Indian head' gold coins from 1908 and 1909, with a face value of $2.50 back then were found in consecutive years by Salvation Army volunteers, the Rutland Herald reported.
