This American Gold Eagle coin was dropped in a Salvation Army kettle in Frederick, Maryland. 2008 marks the 5th year in a row a gold coin has been donated anonymously.
A modern-day Santa Claus dropped a massive donation into the Salvation Army's kettle, but this Santa is keeping his or her identity secret.
Isaiah Barnes was manning his post, kettle and bell in tow, outside a shopping center when a glint of gold among the donations caught his eye.
"At first I thought it was one of those Sacagawea coins," Barnes says, "but I didn't think too much of it."
It turned out to be a gold American Gold Eagle coin, currently estimated to be worth $901 as of Friday. The coin contains one full ounce of gold.
The tradition of sorts started about five years ago: the week before Christmas, an anonymous donor drops a gold coin into one of the kettles in Frederick.
The small coin can feed a family for weeks, as well as bring Christmas cheer to people like Isaiah, who once counted on the donations himself. "[The Salvation Army] helped me when I was little and I didn't have no toys," he says.
The Salvation Army sold last year's gold coin to a local attorney for $1,000.
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