A Rare Coin, Hidden for Years, Sells for Half a Million Dollars

A Rare Coin, Hidden for Years, Sells for Half a Million Dollars

A rare dime bought by an Ohio farm family in the 1970s was recently sold for just over $500,000.

In 1975, the United States Mint in San Francisco produced the coin, which has a face value of one-tenth of one U.S. dollar.

A mint is where a government produces forms of money.

The coin shows the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt. It is one of just two dimes of its kind known to exist without a special “S” mark.

Three sisters from Ohio received the dime after the death of their brother, who had kept it in a bank for more than 40 years.

The coin sold for $506,250 in an online sale, said Ian Russell, president of GreatCollections, an auction house based in California.

The only other known example of the “1975 ‘no S’ proof dime” sold at a 2019 auction for $456,000. It was then sold again months later to a private collector.

The mint in San Francisco made more than 2.8 million special “proof” sets in 1975. The sets had six coins and cost $7. A few years later, collectors discovered that two dimes from the set did not have the mint mark.

Russell said the sisters from Ohio, who did not want to be identified, told him that they inherited one of those two dimes.

Their brother and mother bought the coin for $18,200 in 1978, which would amount to around $90,000 today.

Their parents operated a dairy farm. They considered the coin a form of investment.

I’m Ashley Thompson.

John Russell adapted this story from an Associated Press report.

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Words in This Story

dime – n. a coin that represents one-tenth of one U.S. dollar

face value –n. the value stated on a piece of money

mint – n. a place where coins are made

auction – n. a sale of property to the highest bidder

proof –n. a specially prepared coin that is usually very shiny