TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — An incredibly rare dime, whose location had been unknown since the late 1970s, has been sold for over $500,000. This particular coin was produced by the U.S. Mint in San Francisco in 1975 and features the image of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. What sets it apart is that it is one of only two dimes known to exist that lack the unique “S” mint mark that typically indicates its San Francisco origin.
The dime was inherited by three sisters from Ohio after the passing of their brother, who had securely stored it in a bank vault for more than four decades. The sisters chose to keep their identities private, but they shared with Ian Russell, the president of GreatCollections, a California-based auction house, that their family had a history with these rare coins. Their brother and mother had previously purchased the first known error coin back in 1978 for $18,200, which would be equivalent to around $90,000 today. Their parents, who managed a dairy farm, viewed the coin as a potential financial safeguard.
The dime was sold at an online auction, ending on Sunday, for a final price of $506,250, as reported by Russell. The only other existing “1975 ‘no S’ proof dime” was sold in a 2019 auction for $456,000, and later transferred to a private collector just months afterward, demonstrating the high value and demand for such rare coins in the collectors’ market.
In 1975, the San Francisco Mint produced over 2.8 million special uncirculated “proof” sets, which included six coins and originally sold for $7. Collectors soon discovered that two dimes from this set were missing their mint marks, leading to excitement and increased interest in these errors among numismatists, or coin collectors, over the years.
This rewritten text maintains the original HTML structure while providing a clearer and more engaging narrative. The order of information has been adjusted for better flow, and additional context has been added to enhance understanding.
