'Mimi' coin mystery benefits Salvation Army

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Merrill Conrad spied a glint of plastic in a sea of coins. He unearthed a small plastic bag.

What's this?

Inside he found a $20 gold Liberty Eagle coin dated 1925. He pulled out the note tucked in the bag.

In loving memory of Mimi.

Conrad, a retiree in his 70s, had read about the "Mimi" coin tradition in the newspaper. A mysterious donor had been giving the valuable coin to the local Salvation Army for years. He knew this was a treasure amid the odd Chuck E. Cheese token, bullet or gold tooth volunteers find in red kettles.

"Hey, fellows, look what I found," Conrad called to the other volunteers sorting donations in a locked room at the Salvation Army in Fort Myers. It was late November of last year. The group erupted in applause. The coin was worth $1,300.

If the mystery giver repeats the tradition this season, it will be the 10th year the Mimi coin has appeared during the Salvation Army's red kettle campaign. The campaign officially kicks off Friday, and the Fort Myers area aims to raise $650,000 to help needy families. The Mimi coin typically brings in more than $1,000 for the organization, depending on the price of gold. It often inspires coin-giving copycats, who attach notes saying they've been inspired by the Mimi donor.

It has landed in kettles from North Fort Myers to Lehigh Acres. Once, it arrived via mail.

About three years ago, Gail Fleeman, an executive secretary at the Salvation Army in Fort Myers, found it wrapped in a Post-it in an envelope.

"I don't have a single thought as to who it is. That's part of the fun of it," Fleeman said. "I'm sure somebody knows who it is."

If they do, they're not dropping clues. Leaders at the Salvation Army of Lee, Hendry and Glades Counties avow ignorance of the donor's identity and aren't looking to unmask the lover of Mimi either. Tim Gilliam, the new area commander, first heard about the coin when he was working for the Salvation Army in St. Petersburg. A few years ago, the Mimi coin tradition made national news.

"The story of the coin goes well beyond the borders of Southwest Florida," Gilliam said. "It's never expected, but always a blessing."

In 2011, a bell ringer described the Mimi donor as a tall man, which narrows the scope to the 324,000 men in Lee County, minus short guys. The description is just as scant for Mimi. Was she someone's wife, daughter or Shih Tzu?

"She's probably someone's loved one named Mimi who has always had the army in her heart and she's not alive anymore," said Bill Blevins, the local Salvation Army board chairman.

Conrad is sorting red kettle donations again this year. He and other volunteers have made odd finds. A coin from Liberia. Nuts and screws. An engagement ring with a tiny heart-shaped diamond, which may have been fake or a good deed to end a promise gone bad.

But no Mimi ... yet.

"It could be anybody. It could be the person sitting alongside me," he said. "It's not me."