South African loses rare coin in meter

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African woman has mistakenly plunked a 100-year-old gold coin worth more than $1,000 into a parking meter while shopping without her glasses, a newspaper has reported.


"I can't believe I could have done something like that," said the woman, who asked not to be identified.


The woman said she also believed she had spent an 1890 sovereign, worth a small fortune, as small change, the Cape Argus newspaper said on Wednesday.


The woman inherited the gold coins from her mother, but they became mixed up with loose coins she kept in a container and were transferred to her purse by mistake.


She told the newspaper she did not realise she had the coins with her and was not carrying her spectacles. She said she thought she put a Kruger sovereign, worth about 7,000 rand (624 pounds) in a parking meter in Paarl outside Cape Town.


She appealed to city authorities to keep a lookout for the Kruger sovereign when counting parking meter proceeds.