--- description: Betty Soskin, 94, had her commemorative coin stolen from her home in Richmond, California. title: Thief Steals Coin President Obama Gave to Country's Oldest Park Ranger image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40122777f5920893/69884d1cf887dc1ff9e901ec/185746657.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Thief Steals Coin President Obama Gave to Country's Oldest Park Ranger by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 1, 2016 12:44 AM CUT  National Park Service ranger Betty Reid Soskin poses for a portrait at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif., on Oct. 24, 2013 National Park Service ranger Betty Reid Soskin poses for a portrait at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif., on Oct. 24, 2013Justin Sullivan—Getty Images by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 1, 2016 12:44 AM CUT The White House is sending a replacement commemorative coin to the country’s oldest park ranger [after the original was stolen](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/30/betty-soskin-barack-obama-coin-stolen "undefined") in a violent home invasion. Park Officials said Thursday that [Betty Soskin](http://time.com/3883694/park-ranger-oldest-betty-reid-soskin/ "undefined"), 94, would receive a replacement of the coin given to her by President Barack Obama in a December ceremony, according to the _Guardian_. Authorities say the suspect broke into Soskin’s Richmond, California home on Monday and punched her several times. Among the valuables stolen was the coin Obama gave her. “If I can get that coin back I think I can forgive anything,” Soskin told local [news station KTVU](http://www.ktvu.com/news/167592710-story "undefined") earlier this week. Soskin works at the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front national historic park in northern California, where she is known for her talks and tours where she tells her perspective as a black woman working in the ship yards at the time. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4390780/betty-soskin-barack-obama-coin-stolen/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4390780/betty-soskin-barack-obama-coin-stolen/"},"headline":"Thief Steals Coin President Obama Gave to Country's Oldest Park Ranger","datePublished":"2016-07-01T00:44:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:00:08.154Z","description":"Betty Soskin, 94, had her commemorative coin stolen from her home in Richmond, California","url":"https://time.com/4390780/betty-soskin-barack-obama-coin-stolen/","keywords":["California","Crime","National Parks","People"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40122777f5920893/69884d1cf887dc1ff9e901ec/185746657.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt40122777f5920893/69884d1cf887dc1ff9e901ec/185746657.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bay Area Woman Is America's Oldest Full-Time National Park Ranger","caption":"Bay Area Woman Is America's Oldest Full-Time National Park Ranger","creditText":"Justin Sullivan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4390780/betty-soskin-barack-obama-coin-stolen/","name":"Thief Steals Coin President Obama Gave to Country's Oldest Park Ranger"}}]}] ```