Huge payout expected for a rare coin bought by Ohio farm family and hidden for decades

AP News ^ | September 07, 2024 | JOHN SEEWER

[Red Badger]

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Three sisters from Ohio who inherited a dime kept in a bank vault for more than 40 years knew it had some value. But they had no idea just how much until just a few years ago.

The extraordinarily rare coin, struck by the U.S. Mint in San Francisco in 1975, could bring more than $500,000, said Ian Russell, president of GreatCollections, which specializes in currency and is handling an online auction that will end in October.

What makes the dime depicting President Franklin D. Roosevelt so valuable is a missing “S” mint mark for San Francisco, one of just two without the mark known to exist. The other one sold at a 2019 auction for $456,000 and then again months later to a private collector.

While serious coin collectors have long known about the existence of these two rare dimes, their whereabouts had remained a mystery since the late 1970s.

“They were hidden for decades.” Russell said. “Most major collectors and dealers have never seen one.”

The mint in San Francisco made more than 2.8 million special uncirculated “proof” sets in 1975 that featured six coins and were sold for $7. Collectors a few years later discovered that two dimes from the set were missing the mint mark.

[Red Badger]

This undated image provided by GreatCollections shows a 1975 proof set dime mistakenly made without the San Francisco Mint’s letter S mintmark. (GreatCollections via AP)

[monkeyshine]

Good for them. I hope they get a million bucks.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Red Badger.

[SaveFerris]

Hey sisters, can you spare a dime?

[Larry Lucido]

In 1975 candy bars were still a dime. I would have bought a Three Musketeers with it.

[Dr. Sivana]

In 1975 candy bars were still a dime. I would have bought a Three Musketeers with it.

Not quite. They went up to 15 cents a few years earlier. You could still get two Hershey's ice pops for 10 cents, though.

[3ZZZ]

Good choice! Love them bars.

[Trump20162020]

People are so weird, paying half a million dollars for an old dime because it’s missing an ‘S.’

[blitz128]

How does this happen? I can understand double stamps, wrong material because of left over blanks from different coin. But missing the s? That would require the stamp to be wrong, and all of the coins would have that mistake?

[TheCipher]

Now when they inherited it, they didn’t know what it was worth. I bet the IRS comes after them for back owed inheritance taxes in addition to taxes on what they get when they sell it.

[sasquatch]

‘S’ erasers for sale...

[Red Badger]

Proofs................

[blitz128]

Perhaps hell of a “mistake”