Lucky winners in San Francisco treasure hunt find rare coins worth $25,000

Woman wins rare coin worth $10,000 in Scavenger Hunt by SF shop owner-coin collector

A scavenger hunt for rare, collectible coins held by San Francisco shop owner whos also a collector attracted families and other people from different parts of the Bay Area to the city on Sunday. The winner of the grand prize, a silver Morgan dollar valued at $10,000, was found by a woman from the peninsula at Fort Mason shortly before 8pm on Sunday.

SAN FRANCISCO - All day long on Sunday, crowds of people searched around San Francisco, looking for valuable, rare coins.

It was part of the second annual scavenger hunt created by Seth Chandler, coin collector and owner of Witter Coin in the Marina District.

He gave away coins worth a total of $25,000.

Among the people who found one of the rare coins hidden at various iconic locations around the city was Gabby Diaz.

She found a $20 gold coin valued at $4,000 shortly after 6 p.m. at Portsmouth Square in Chinatown.

Chandler greeted Diaz soon after she found the coin.

He posted one clue per hour, starting at 7 a.m., about the location of each coin on Instagram. 
 
Diaz found the coin taped near a lamp post.

"We've been out since 10. We almost found a couple of them, but we were a couple of seconds too late. But I'm excited," said Diaz.

Chandler decided at the spur of the moment to go out to a few of the locations to greet the winner.

In one case, an 8-year-old boy found a 1909 penny worth $4,000 in Ghiradelli Square around 3:30 p.m. 

Chandler said meeting people participating in the hunt is his favorite part of the giveaway.

"I love people," he said. "I'm like a golden retriever. As a human being, I love getting out there with people. You just want to watch it unfold in front of you. We work so hard. There's so much momentum. It's so exciting."  

Alex Stack found a coin during last year's scavenger hunt, and he got lucky again.

This time, he found a coin valued at $750 at Nob Hill across from Grace Cathedral.

The grand prize of a Morgan silver dollar valued at $10,000 was found at Fort Mason shortly before 8 p.m. 

The coin was found behind some stairs.  

The winner was a woman who said she had been on the scavenger hunt all day.

Chandler congratulated her in person, and she thanked him for the scavenger hunt and said,"It's so much fun for families. Got us all out exercising and enjoying the beautiful views."

Persistence paid off.  

That woman and Gabby Diaz in Chinatown had been on the hunt all day.

Winners have the option of selling the coins back to Chandler.

Diaz said she plans to keep the coin she found, "Give it to the kids so they can hang onto it. Kids have been getting into coins lately, so it'll be fun."  

Amber Lee is a reporter with KTVU. Email Amber at Amber.Lee@Fox.com or text/leave message at 510-599-3922. Follow her on Facebook @AmberKTVU,  Instagram @AmberKTVU  or Twitter @AmberKTVU