Every nickel and dime adds up for the Salvation Army's kettle collection every holiday season. But it's not a normal coin that is causing a stir at the organization's Torrington Chapter.
It seems someone donated a rare 1881 "half eagle" coin into a kettle in Torrington on Nov. 27, Black Friday, according to the Register Citizen.
Three Salvation Army members found the coin this week.
"We have a change counting machine, and what happens is when the change counter spits out an odd coin that it doesn’t recognize, we drop them into a bucket and look at it later,” Lt. Alan Galentine of the Salvation Army told the paper.
The "half eagle" is the first-ever gold coin minted in the U.S. It's been out of print since 1929. The coin's face value is $5, but the Salvation Army thinks it's worth much more.
“It appears it’s going to be worth between $250 and $400, but we have not had it formally appraised yet,” Lt. Galentine said.
Galentine told the paper that stories of similar donations turn up around the country so the Torrington chapter is lucky to be a part of the yearly gesture of good will.
