Maybe it was all his years in the service, over two decades to be exact, that had sharpened his senses and focused his purview like a lens. Or, maybe it was the flicker, the fleeting beam of the copper-plated zinc that caught his eye.

“I noticed something on one of the military branches’ seals that seemed irregular,” said Brian King, 41, former Army National Guard soldier and Afghanistan War veteran. “I got a closer look at the object and noticed the 100,000 marking on the coin.”

The penny had enough of a peculiar presence to make King stop, bend down, and pick it up off Chicago’s famous Navy Pier, while he was visiting the Windy City, vacationing with his family on October 13.

It’s worth? Not one cent, but rather 100,000 of them — i.e. $1,000.

How the special token got there, however, isn’t as organic as one might think. It didn’t fall out of a tycoon’s pocket, or fall out the back of an antique truck. Rather, it was planted there, by a financial company.

The firm Ally had planted it, as part of a campaign where they tossed loads more in cities across the United States.

In a lot of ways, it couldn’t have landed with a more worthy American. The vet’s family, who reside in Seattle, already have big plans for the found money. And it’s inspiring.

Inspired by his nine-year-old daughter — who recently donated her hair to a charity that makes wigs for children with cancer — King aims to donate a generation portion to a veterans organization. The remaining amount will both kick off a fund towards a future family trip to DisneyWorld and serve as the initial investment in a savings account.

“As a combat vet, I’ve always liked visiting veterans memorials,” King said. “When I started my research for the trip, I recognized Navy Pier right away.”

Safe to say that the walk to the military quay paid off in ways that neither he or his family could ever have imagined.

ABC 7