It’s an Easter Egg hunt, or even the real life-version of Charlie Bucket’s search for the elusive Willy Wonka Golden Ticket. But this time, it’s cash that people are going to find all over the country.
To shine a light on the coins that jingle in your pants pocket, the American Numismatic Association, along with the U.S. Mint, coin dealers and collectors are taking part in the Great American Coin Hunt.
From April 21 through 27, about a million coins will be hidden or put into circulation all across the United States, according to hunt organizers.
Organizers said some of the coins will be old buffalo nickels, mercury dimes and Ike dollar coins.
The coins will not only be hidden, but also dropped into tip jars, the "Today" show reported.
To see where the coins have been left, click here.
Coin enthusiasts are doing it to get more people actually looking at the change they carry, as well as to get more people to visit coin collecting stores, especially at a time when people pay with plastic or digitally, "Today" reported.
If you don’t find one of the valuable coins, you may stumble upon a holographic medallion. There will be 250 marked disks that can be turned in at a participating coin collector for the real deal. There are also five “Golden Tickets” that may be found. If one of those is turned in, the finder can get the rarest of the coins available which are valued at up to $1,000.
The U.S. Mint is also getting into the rare coin game. The government agency is releasing only 2 million of each of the 2019 America The Beautiful coins with the W mint mark. Normally, the West Point mint's quarters don't have a mint mark, but the America The Beautiful quarters are adding the mark and will mix them into bags of quarters at the Philadelphia and Denver mints, according to government officials.
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