Someone recently dropped a South African gold Krugerrand coin appraised at $1 100 into The Salvation Army kettle.

Salvation Army staffers discovered the 1983 coin when they were tallying collections at the end of the day and notified Major Mark Smith, head of the local Salvation Army.

"I was delighted," Smith said. "It went a long way to helping us in our Christmas effort."

Louisiana’s Shreveport Times reported that anonymous Krugerrand drops in kettles occur throughout the country at Christmas, with the first gold coin having been given in 1982 in a Chicago suburb. About 300 gold coins have since been donated.

Louisiana Coin Exchange in Shreveport appraised the locally donated one-ounce coin at $1 100, but The Salvation Army likely will sell it to get more than the appraised value since gold prices have been setting records in recent weeks, Smith said.

Alan Demby, executive chairman of The South African Gold Coin Exchange, lauded the spirit shown by American Krugerrand benefactors.

“A heightened benefit to the recipient of the donation is the Krugerrand’s ability to keep on giving. As the gold price appreciates, as it has been so convincingly doing in the past couple of years, so the value of the gift grows.”