A veteran who planned a family trip to Chicago for months has found a special, valuable souvenir.

Brian King, who served in Afghanistan and was in the Army National Guard for 23 years, told WLS that he saved up for the trip for months, and wanted to see the Navy Pier, because he likes to visit veteran's memorials when he travels.

His choice of tourist attraction proved to be wise. While checking out the pier with his family on Oct. 13, King saw an unusual coin on the ground, near the anchor of the U.S.S. Chicago. It turned out it was one of Ally Bank’s 100 lucky pennies promotion. The pennies were placed in 10 major U.S. cities and are worth a $1,000 each.

King said he would use the money to open a bank account for his daughter and to make a donation to the Wounded Warriors Project.

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Ja’Quon Stembridge, shown here in July at the Henry County Republican Party monthly meeting, recently stepped from his position with the Georgia GOP. (Jenni Girtman for the AJC)

Credit: Jenni Girtman