Rare Dime Expected to Sell for Eye-Catching Price at Auction

A rare ten-cent coin minted by the U.S. Mint in San Francisco in 1975 is set to sell for an eye-popping price at auction.

Ian Russell, president of the coin auction site Great Collections, claims the 10-cent piece will sell for up to $500,000 when the auction ends in October. A similarly rare dime sold for $456,000 in 2019 and was later purchased by a private collector. Both coins are considered particularly rare because they are missing a printed “S” indicating they were made in San Francisco. Collectors have been aware of their existence for decades, but their exact location has been unknown for nearly 50 years.

“They remained hidden for decades,” Russell explained. “Most major collectors and dealers never saw them.”

The dime, currently up for auction, was finally discovered when three sisters in Ohio inherited the valuables of a deceased relative who had been keeping the coin in a bank vault since the late 1970s. The sisters wished to remain anonymous, but they told Russell that their dairy farming family bought the coin in 1978 for $18,200 (about $90,000 today). They did so as a form of financial security and held on to it until it gained enough value to sell.

Still, none of the family members expected it to be worth nearly half a million dollars. After Russell returned the coin's appraisal, one of the sisters reportedly asked him, “Is this really possible?”

“This is a very exciting coin for our company,” Russell said. Newsweek“As you can see, bidding has already reached $250,000. We have handled many trophy coins over the years, including two 1913 Nickels and two 1804 Silver Dollars, but this is the first for the most significant modern U.S. coin, the 1975 No. S Proof Dime.”

Comments

No comments yet. Why don’t you start the discussion?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *