THE United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recently featured three Malaysian coins in a weekly artefact highlight on its official X account.
The agency said the coins, which included a 2018 20 sen piece, a 2017 10 sen coin, and a 2018 5 sen coin, had been collected from the base of the Nathan Hale statue located outside the CIA’s Original Headquarters Building in Langley, Virginia.
Each of the coins reportedly bore a small illustration: the 20 sen coin displayed a stick figure, the 10 sen coin seemingly depicted a woman or child, and the 5 sen coin had a tiny paw print. The CIA did not disclose who had placed the coins or when they were left at the statue’s base.
The agency explained on its website that, according to legend, CIA officers would leave a coin at the statue’s base before being deployed abroad to bring good luck and ensure Nathan Hale’s protection during their missions.
The statue itself honours Nathan Hale, who is considered America’s first intelligence officer. He was executed in 1776 at 21 years old after being apprehended while spying on British forces during the American Revolutionary War. The statue portrays him with bound hands, looking determinedly into the distance.
The CIA noted that officers typically leave a US quarter featuring George Washington’s image. However, some choose coins would have symbolic or personal significance.
For example, some officers leave 76 cents to commemorate the year 1776, while others, like those who left the Malaysian coins, opt for foreign denominations with drawings or messages.
The CIA Museum periodically collects these coins, and the money is then donated to the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation and the Third Option Foundation, both of which support injured officers and the families of those who died in the line of duty.
-BTS Media
