A dime with a picture of President Franklin D. Roosevelt that is very rare recently made headlines when it sold for an unbelievable $500,000.
This one-of-a-kind coin, made in San Francisco in 1975, was part of a large collection of “proof” dimes. It is interesting that this is one of only two known examples from this collection that has a unique flaw: the “S” mint mark is missing. This missing piece makes it even more of a sought-after collector’s item.
New owner for the rare dime
Just before the end of October, on October 27, this unique dime was sold at auction by GreatCollections, a well-known company that deals in rare coins. Three sisters from Ohio held the coin together. When they decided to sell it, it made news in the numismatic community.
Natalie Venegas of Newsweek talked to Ian Russell, president of GreatCollections, about his excitement. Russell said, “This is a very exciting coin for our company to auction.” Over the years, we’ve worked with a lot of prize coins, like two nickels from 1913 and two silver dollars from 1804. But this is the first time we’ve worked with a 1975 “no S” proof dime.
- Unique Error: Missing “S” mint mark
- Significant Sale: Over $500,000
- Coin Origin: Minted in San Francisco
- Ownership: Three sisters from Ohio
This sale not only shows how rare and valuable these coins are, but it also shows how people will always be interested in collecting coins.
In 1978, the mother and brother of three girls bought a special coin for $18,200. It is now part of their family’s history. A comment from GreatCollections says that this would be about $90,000 today if you took inflation into account. The sisters got the coin after their brother died. It had been safely stored in a bank vault for more than forty years.
A Legacy and a Safety Net
The Associated Press reported that the family saw this coin as an important “financial safety net” for their dairy farm. One sister remembered that their brother talked a lot about the coin, but she hadn’t seen it herself until lately.
The Significance of Mint Marks
Mint marks are essential identifiers on coins, indicating their place of production. For instance:
- The Philadelphia branch of the Mint used the letter “P” as their mark.
- The West Point Mint utilizes the letter “W”.
These marks not only show where the coin came from, but they also hold the person who made it responsible for its quality. The United States Mint says that when precious metals like gold and silver were used to make coins, a commission was in charge of checking the quality and composition of coins from each Mint location. This thorough evaluation method made sure that all facilities followed exact rules.
It was 1975, and the San Francisco Mint made an amazing “proof” set with more than 2.8 million coins. Sometime after three years, buyers made an interesting find: two of the dimes in this set were missing the unique “S” mint mark. Because of this find, these coins are now considered a “modern rarity,” as stated in the lot description.
A Rare Discovery
In fact, these two coins are the only ones known to exist of the 1975 “no S” proof dime. However, Russell told the AP that there’s always a chance that there are more. A very important event happened in 2019 when one of these rare coins was sold at auction for a huge $456,000.
A smart group of buyers, including the famous coin expert Mitch Spivack, quickly took it back and sold it again for an amazing $516,000 five days later.
A Collector’s Dream
In 2019, Mitch Spivack told Numismatic News, “It was an honor to own the best-known 1975 ‘no S’ dime, even if only for a few days.” Spivack has wanted to add the rare 1975 “no S” dime to his collection for a long time. He is already proud owner of the one-of-a-kind 1976 “no S” silver Eisenhower dollar. He said it was like a dream come true.
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