He tried not to get his hopes up, but Salvation Army Whittier Corps Maj. Charles Gillies couldn't help it.

You couldn't blame him for imagining what good deeds his nonprofit charity could do with a potentially valuable 1804 silver dollar coin. It was discovered among the thousands people plunked into the local Salvation Army's kettles over the Christmas holiday.

"We have a hillside behind our emergency shelter that could be expanded with a new retaining wall, along with new landscaping to fit the area," Gillies said Thursday inside the Long Beach Convention Center, where the Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo was being held.

After taking the coin to an expert appraiser at the show, , Gillies was told - rather quickly - that his coin was in fact a fake.

Had it been real, it could have fetched anywhere from $4 million to $6 million, the experts said.

"I expected it would be," said Gillies, who was only slightly disappointed. "I mean, how weird that would have been - that an authentic coin worth millions of dollars would end up at the bottom of one of our kettles? It's what I was expecting.

"But I was still hoping," he quickly added, grinning.

To read the complete article, see:1804 coin found in Salvation Army kettle found to be a fake(www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_17287221)