Rare Gold Coin Found in Salvation Kettle

Discussion in 'World Coins' started by SensibleSal66, Dec 16, 2020.

  1. SensibleSal66

    SensibleSal66 U.S Casual Collector / Error Collector

    Hey everyone . I have short Salvation story about a coin found recently in my State . Don't know why the person chose this Coin but I like it . Enjoy .
    Rare Gold Coin Found in Salvation Army Kettle in New Britain
    14 hrs ago

    [​IMG]
    Anglo-Saxon cross buried for 1,000 years seen in stunning detail for the…

    [​IMG]
    A 15-year-old singing ‘prodigy’ won ‘The Voice’ — and also made show history

    [​IMG]Rare Gold Coin Found in Salvation Army Kettle in New Britain


    upload_2020-12-16_8-18-18.png
    While collecting donations in New Britain, a Salvation Army officer found something special shining in the pot - someone dropped a gold coin into a red kettle in New Britain.

    [​IMG]© Provided by NBC Connecticut
    The donated coin, a Wiener Philharmoniker 1995, Republik Osterreich is worth between $1,800 and $2,000.

    It's not the first time someone has dropped a generous gift into a donation kettle - someone dropped another gold coin last year, and The Salvation Army says they've seen diamond rings and other jewelry, often accompanied by notes. Gold coins are some of the rarest gifts they've found.

    “I never thought we would receive a donation like this,” said Lieutenant Will Rodriguez, corps officer of The Salvation Army in New Britain. “I am truly amazed and blessed with this donation, which will help us feed and help many families in our community. This has been a difficult year but donations like this allow us to continue to help and bring hope to those who need it most.”

    Every year Salvation Army bell ringers can be found collecting donations to fund the organization's programs.
     
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    "Rare" in change kettles, to be sure -- but someone, somewhere, does it just about every year. I like the gesture, but I feel like I'd benefit the SA more by selling the coin myself where I know I can get a good price and then donating the wad of cash.

    On the other hand, maybe the SA has dealers or partners that respect their mission, and buy the coins at a fair (or even generous) price. If so, that would be nice to know.
     
  4. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    Like @-jeffB said, it's "rare" in terms of what is usually found in a donation bucket, that's all. Not rare in the general sense.

    Valuable
    , yes, due to the gold content, but not "rare". They struck 645,500 Austrian Philharmonic 1-ounce coins in 1995. Which isn't an astronomically high mintage, but not really low, either.

    The press and general public generally tend to miss the distinction between what's actually rare, and what is merely valuable. But I suppose they can be forgiven for that. At least this story reported the value accurately.

    Regardless, it's a nice donation. Sure, the SA has to go through extra trouble to auction it or sell it to see the proceeds, but that's $1,856.95 worth of gold at today's spot price, so it's worth the hassle for them.
     
  5. SensibleSal66

    SensibleSal66 U.S Casual Collector / Error Collector

    Yea , I wasn't sure about it being rare either . I don't know how many articles I've read by the news that stated how coin was " stamped " instead of struck .
     
    DarkRage666 and Penny Luster like this.
  6. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    "rare" applies only if there are less then 10 known.
     
    Penny Luster likes this.
  7. lordmarcovan

    lordmarcovan 48-year collector Moderator

    Actually, I think it’s less defined than that. Depends a lot on interpretation. Certainly something with less than ten pieces extant can be called rare, or even “extremely rare”. My interpretation of the definition is not so strict. But I certainly wouldn’t apply the term to something that has over half a million pieces extant.
     
    johnyb, Penny Luster and panzerman like this.
  8. medoraman

    medoraman Supporter! Supporter

    I agree. "Rare" can never be determined by quantity known alone, its always a correlation between quantity and demand. If 2000 people in the world may want to own something, I would agree less than 10 known is a fair estimation of rare. If 7 billion people on earth want to own something, there could be 10,000 known and be considered "rare".

    Now, 645,500 of one date of a gold coin in no way is rare, not disagreeing there, just saying 10 can be too few demanding on demand for "rare" cutoff.
     
  9. Penny Luster

    Penny Luster Well-Known Member

    I think "rare" is one of those words advertisers/marketers use to get people interested...and it works! Other words they use are "new" and "free"..
     
    DarkRage666 likes this.
  10. Collecting Nut

    Collecting Nut Borderline Hoarder

    This rare gold coin in a Salvation Army kettle is slowing becoming a Christmas time tradition.
     
    Penny Luster likes this.
  11. stldanceartist

    stldanceartist Minister of Silly Walks

    ...because it is part of a marketing campaign to garner further donations to the SA.
     
    Cliff Reuter and Penny Luster like this.
  12. willieboyd2

    willieboyd2 First Class Poster

    Now if someone gave the "Anglo Saxon gold cross" referenced above to the Salvation Army, well, that would be a news story.

    :)
     
    SensibleSal66 likes this.
  13. Bradley Trotter

    Bradley Trotter Well-Known Member

    Last edited: Dec 16, 2020
  14. CaptHenway

    CaptHenway Survivor

    Not necessarily. Back when gold was in the $300-400 range and I was doing rather well personally I dropped a KR wrapped in a dollar bill in a kettle more than one Christmas. This was in CHicago where you could see the need on the streets every day.
     
  15. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

  16. medoraman

    medoraman Supporter! Supporter

    The modern hoard was found around 2010 or so. The market was flooded with them. Yours appears to be the earlier type, possibly struck by Brutus. The article shows one of a later type, most likely local imitations.
     
    Cliff Reuter and panzerman like this.
  17. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    Thanks. That coin is still a mystery/ was Koson a King? Where these struck by Brutus to pay Sycthian warriors in climatic battle.? Thankfully someone buried a hoard of them/ means ordinary folks can collect them. The EID MAR Aureus just sold for 3.25 UK Pounds!
     
  18. medoraman

    medoraman Supporter! Supporter

    Robert K has an article about them. His view, (which I share), is the ones with the monogram in front of the men are Roman Republican issue to pay for Dacian mercenaries. He points out metal composition of these are in line with RR issues. The rougher issues without the monogram have a very different chemical composition of gold and trace metals, are not engraved as well, and are likely local imitations of the originals.

    So, its known Brutus had Dacian mercenaries, so it leads to the idea these were Brutus payments for them. I am not sure of THAT part myself, it could be but to me not PROVEN but highly suspected. I guess I view them as RR provincial gold struck for some purpose, but were so common that Dacian imitations were made. Not uncommon, look at the "celtic" imitations everyone knows that some were not made by true celts.

    If someone wished to label these with monogram "Brutus" I would not yell at them, its just I personally do not. I have Brutus coins, but this is not in that box.
     
    panzerman likes this.
  19. Mr.Q

    Mr.Q Well-Known Member

    It is certainly not a recent event. When I was a kid, many many years ago, I remember my parents talking of someone who put several gold coins in a church donation basket. I also remember when I tried to get change back from the donation basket. After the service my dad and uncle scolded me, but both my aunt and mother swatted my bottom, never did it again! Enjoyed the thread, thank you.
     
  20. KBBPLL

    KBBPLL Well-Known Member

    Someone has been dropping a krugerrand in a bucket in my town every year for the past 21 years.
     
  21. mike estes

    mike estes Well-Known Member

    from time to time someone will drop a gold and or a silver coin into one of the Red Kettles in front of my local Walmart in Jasper, Alabama. truth be know, it probably makes the person or people feel really good.
     
    Penny Luster likes this.
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page