San Francisco shop owner to give away $25,000 of rare coins in scavenger hunt
SF shop owner to give away $25,000 worth of rare coins in weekend scavenger hunt
For a second year, a San Francisco shop owner is giving away rare, collectible coins and two other historical items in a scavenger hunt. He will post clues on his social media account starting at 7am on Sunday. He will be adding the location of each coin hourly.
SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco coin collector and shop owner is giving away rare, collectible coins and other historical items in a scavenger hunt this weekend.
Seth Chandler, owner of Witter Coin in the Marina District, first contacted KTVU last year when he started this giveaway, calling it a fun and great way to promote his passion for collecting coins.
Chandler said last year's scavenger hunt generated a lot of excitement.
He plans to turn this into an annual event to inspire more people to become collectors, and on Friday evening, he showed KTVU the coins and other items he'd be giving away on Sunday.
"We're looking at all twelve items that we're going to hide all over San Francisco as part of the scavenger hunt," said Chandler as he held the tray of the items he plans to give away in what he calls a scavenger hunt.
He said the total value of all the items is $25,000: 11 coins, a gold nugget, and a historic five-dollar bill.
"We're here to promote National Coin Week...a national celebration just to promote coin collecting and how awesome it is," said Chandler.
The latter two items he may add with a coin as a bonus.
They'll be hidden in various locations around the city.
Chandler plans to post clues online.
"Think like a tourist. We're going to hide them in really cool iconic spots. For example, if we choose to hide it in a playground when we take a picture, we'll have something recognizable in the background, whether it's the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, or wherever it may be," said Chandler.
All the coins were made at one of the city's three mints.
The first U.S. Mint was in the financial district in 1854. It is now the San Francisco Historical Society, a museum.
The second U.S. Mint was on Fifth Street, now a venue space. The third is located in the upper Market Street area.
It is still operational and produces special edition, commemorative coins.
"We're really like the king of coins when it comes to making coins."
The most desired coins made in the United States were made right here in San Francisco.
The value of the coins ranges from $500 up to the big prize: a Morgan silver dollar was made in 1893.
Chandler said for this time, he'll make the items harder to find.
"We'd love it if people did a couple of things. Post a picture of their coin and tag us so we know if it was found. We'd love to actually have a conversation with them," said Chandler.
There will be a total of 12 locations for this scavenger hunt.
On Sunday, every hour on the hour starting at 7 a.m., Chandler plans to post on his Instagram account a photo of the general location where each of the coins are being hidden.
Happy hunting and good luck!
Amber Lee is a reporter with KTVU. Email Amber at [email protected] or text/leave message at 510-599-3922. Follow her on Facebook @AmberKTVU, Instagram @AmberKTVU or Twitter @AmberKTVU