Third gold coin in three years lands in Salvation Army kettle

By Craig Marx, Editor

After speaking with Bill Kelly, head of the Salvation Army's bell ringing campaign in the Antigo area, we learned that someone had been secretly donating $20 gold coins, one in each of the last two years, to the volunteer charity effort's kettle located at Fleet Farm.

Make that three years, now. An 1889 $20 gold coin was deposited once again at the Fleet Farm kettle location on the north side of Antigo on Thursday, manned by dedicated volunteer Gino McKenna at the time. While Bill Kelly estimated the previous two coins at $1,200 a piece, Cavan Kelly, Bill's son and also a member of the Army's corp of volunteers, prices this year's donation at $1,300.

Cavan Kelly brought the coin into the Antigo Times for display on Thursday afternoon.