A donor who gave off the aura of a “quiet spirit” donated thousands of dollars worth of jewelry into a Salvation Army red kettle in Annapolis, Md. on Tuesday.
According to the Capital Gazette, one of the bracelets, a yellow-and-gold piece created by Tiffany & Co., was valued at more than $6,000.
“It shocked us when we found out it was real,” Capt. Ryan Vincent, commander of the Salvation Army in Annapolis told the paper.
The Salvation Army sold it for $1,500 worth of donation money.
A gemologist will examine the ring and the other bracelet, a matching set of diamonds and rubies, over the weekend to determine their value.
Pearl Eldridge was the ringer who collected the donation. She told the Capital Gazette that the woman who dropped the jewelry into the bucket told her that the pieces were sentimental, but were just laying around.
Precious metal in the kettle: Salvation Army leaders in Maryland say a donor recently dropped thousands of dollars worth of jewelry in a red kettle. One of the bracelets, a yellow-gold piece by Tiffany & Co., was sold for $1,500. https://t.co/FYeTI4P5WP #odd
— AP Oddities (@AP_Oddities) December 21, 2019
Vincent said the Salvation Army has a policy for dealing with jewelry donations. Pieces found in a kettle are kept for 30 days, but if someone acknowledges leaving a piece with the bell ringer, it’s immediately considered donated.
If big donations are found to be stolen, the charitable organization arranges them to be returned.
This isn’t the only unconventional donation that donors have dropped into red kettles as of late.
A gold bar worth around $1,500 was donated at a Kroger in Louisville, Ky. and a more than century-old gold coin at a Wal-Mart in Shelby, N.C., according to The Associated Press.
