GRAYSLAKE, Ill. (AP) - Generous donors have started dropping golden coins into Salvation Army red kettles this holiday season.

The Daily Herald reports two coins each worth a total of about $3,400 were donated to kettles in Lake County in suburban Chicago. One was a Double Eagle gold coin worth about $1,730. The one-ounce coin was enclosed in a clear plastic sleeve and wrapped in a 1,000 Yen bill worth about $12. It was found Nov. 30 at a kettle outside a Grayslake grocery store.

A South African Kruggerand was found the same day at a Naperville grocery store. It’s estimated at $1,700.

Last year gold and silver coins worth about $14,000 were found in Salvation Army kettles throughout Lake County.

Also this year someone bundled and dropped $1,000 into a Gurnee kettle.

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