An extremely rare coin, whose whereabouts have been a mystery since the late 1970s, sold for just over $500,000.
The coin, struck by the U.S. Mint in San Francisco in 1975, depicts President Franklin Roosevelt and is one of only two coins known to exist without the distinctive “S” mint mark.
Three Ohio sisters inherited the dime after the death of their brother, who kept it in a bank vault for more than 40 years.
the currency It sold for $506,250 in an online auction that concluded Sunday, according to Ian Russell, president of GreatCollections, an auction house based in Irvine, California. The auction house said 212 bids were submitted for the coin.
The only other known example of a “1975 ‘no S’ proof dime” sold at auction in 2019 for $456,000. Shortly thereafter, the coin sold for $516,000 to a Roosevelt Dime coin collector, who currently owns the only complete set of the series, the auction house said.
The San Francisco Mint produced more than 2.8 million special uncirculated “proof” sets in 1975, which included six coins, and sold for $7. Collectors discovered a few years later that two dimes from the set were missing the mint mark.
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Russell said the sisters from Ohio, who wanted to remain anonymous, told him they inherited one of those dimes, but their brother and mother bought the first error coin discovered in 1978 for $18,200, which would be worth about $90,000 today. Their parents, who ran a dairy farm, viewed the currency as a financial safety net.
When Russell told one of the sisters just a few years ago about the potential value of the coin, he said to her: “Is that really possible?”
Although there is a chance there are more examples of the rare dime, they will only be found within 1975 “proof” sets and not in anyone’s pocket, Russell said.
However, he said he expects the latest discovery will spark a lot of research.