{"id":271693,"date":"2026-04-17T00:38:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T00:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/271693\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T00:38:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T00:38:22","slug":"50k-rare-coin-scavenger-hunt-coming-to-s-f","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/271693\/","title":{"rendered":"$50k rare coin scavenger hunt coming to S.F."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img alt=\"A Gold Rush-era coin worth $25,000 will be among the 10 hidden across San Francisco for Witter Coin\u2019s annual scavenger hunt.\u00a0\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\"   style=\"aspect-ratio:1 \/ 1\" class=\"x100 y100 opc bgpc ofcv bgscv block bg-gray200 mnh0px fill\"\/><\/p>\n<p>A Gold Rush-era coin worth $25,000 will be among the 10 hidden across San Francisco for Witter Coin\u2019s annual scavenger hunt.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Courtesy of Seth Chandler<\/p>\n<p>The Gold Rush is returning to San Francisco this month for one day only \u2014 well, kind of.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Marina district coin dealer Witter Coin plans to hide 10 rare pieces across the city as part of its third annual scavenger hunt on April 25, coinciding with National Coin Week. Owner Seth Chandler expects the event to draw thousands, based on the success of past iterations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is just a crazy and fun idea,\u201d Chandler told the Chronicle. \u201cI had no idea it was going to\u00a0 be this big, and that\u2019s what makes it fun \u2026 It fuels me to do more.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p>In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DWpYN4LgY7P\/\" data-link=\"native\" class=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram reel<\/a> first shared to Witter Coin\u2019s account on April 2, Chandler explained that the hidden coins will have a total value of $50,000. The most expensive coin hidden will be a Gold Rush-era gold coin worth $25,000. Whoever finds each coin gets to keep it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t believe I\u2019m doing this,\u201d the 54-year-old San Francisco resident said, noting that it\u2019s \u201ca really strange feeling to walk away from like all that money that you just hid under a park bench.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>San Francisco Chronicle Logo<\/p>\n<p>Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=sfchronicle.com\" data-link=\"native\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Add Preferred Source\" class=\"td300 cp f aic jcc disabled:cd wsn px24 y40px px16 py8 buttonSm fs13 xs:fs16 xs:buttonLg bg-primaryAccessible hover:o80 c-white disabled:bg-gray300 disabled:c-gray600 border bn tac br2\"><\/p>\n<p>Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, Chandler says the effort is well worth it for the chance to foster community and encourage exploration of the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just want people to have a good time,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p>Clues about each of the coins\u2019 whereabouts will be posted to Witter Coin\u2019s Instagram every hour on the hour starting at 7 a.m. on the day of the event. Chandler said that in past years, the hunt has lasted the entire day.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"The scavenger hunt begins at 7 a.m. on April 25 with clues released on\u00a0Instagram every hour on the hour.\" loading=\"lazy\"   style=\"aspect-ratio:3 \/ 4\" class=\"x100 y100 opc bgpc ofcv bgscv block bg-gray200 mnh0px fill\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The scavenger hunt begins at 7 a.m. on April 25 with clues released on\u00a0Instagram every hour on the hour.<\/p>\n<p>Courtesy of Seth Chandler<\/p>\n<p>Coins will be hidden in \u201csafe\u201d locations in various neighborhoods across the city, with \u201cno digging or trespassing\u201d required, according to Witter Coin\u2019s Instagram post.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want to make it challenging and make it worthwhile,\u201d Chandler said, citing the gold foil chocolate bars from \u201cWilly Wonka &amp; the Chocolate Factory\u201d as inspiration. \u201cWe try to have a lot of fun with the clues.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Chandler said that he and his team spend dozens of hours planning out the scavenger hunt each year, though he\u2019s always got his radar on for a good hiding spot. In past years, coins have been found at locations such as Fort Point, LucasFilm headquarters and Fort Mason Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p>Witter Coin hosted its first city-wide scavenger hunt in 2024, with 11 coins worth a total of $2,500. The 66-year-old shop, currently at 2299 Lombard St., is one of the oldest coin dealers in the Bay Area.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A coin collector since he was 4 years old, Chandler took over the business in 2016. He has become known for leaning into social media to promote the store, from conducting livestream sales to making Instagram reels.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He said that over time, the scavenger hunts have helped business at Witter Coin. Chandler has even had participants come into the store to thank him for organizing the event.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not work,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"uiTextSmall f aic jcc\">Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Gold Rush-era coin worth $25,000 will be among the 10 hidden across San Francisco for Witter Coin\u2019s&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[329,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-271693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-arts-and-entertainment","9":"tag-san-francisco","10":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","11":"tag-san-francisco-news","12":"tag-sf","13":"tag-sf-headlines","14":"tag-sf-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}