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Three sisters from Ohio have found a rare dime that has been in their family for over 40 years, and it could be worth more than $500,000.
The dime, made in San Francisco in 1975, is special because it does not have the "S" mint mark that shows where it was made. This makes it one of only two dimes like this that exist.
Rare 1975 Dime Could Be Worth $500,000
The coin is part of a proof set that the US Mint made in 1975. The sisters' brother and mother bought the coin back in 1978 for $18,200, which would be about $90,000 today.
The family thought the coin was a smart investment to secure their future. Their parents, who ran a dairy farm, knew the coin was valuable but didn't realize just how rare it would become.
Ian Russell, the president of GreatCollections, a company that deals with rare coins, is handling the auction for this dime. The auction will end in October.
According to AP News, Russell says the discovery of this coin is very important because coin collectors have known about these two rare "no S" dimes for many years but had never been able to find both of them. One of the dimes was sold at an auction in 2019 for $456,000 and was then sold again to a private buyer not long after.
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Collectors Expect Rare Dime Value to Rise
Russell explained that many collectors had heard about these rare dimes, but no one knew where both of them were until now.
In 1975, the US Mint made over 2.8 million proof sets, each with six coins, and they sold for $7. Later, collectors realized that two of the dimes in those sets were missing the "S" mint mark, which made them very rare and valuable.
The sisters got the coin after their brother died. They knew it was rare but didn't understand how valuable it really was until recently. Russell said one of the sisters was very surprised when she found out how much the dime could be worth.
This rare dime will be shown at a coin event in Tampa, Florida, starting this week. The auction will finish in October. The discovery of this "no S" dime may get more collectors interested in finding other rare coins from 1975. Some collectors might start looking for similar coins in unopened proof sets from that year.
According to Russell, it's possible that there are more of these rare dimes, but they would only be in unopened proof sets from 1975, not in everyday pocket change. As more time passes and fewer good-quality examples of the coin are found, its value is likely to increase.
Collectors are interested in coins for many reasons, but the rarity of this dime is one of the biggest reasons it's worth so much. Only two dimes like this are known to exist. The other dime sold for nearly $500,000 in 2019.
The value of these rare coins is expected to go up, especially since there aren't many of them left in good condition. This makes the 1975 "no S" dime a very special and wanted coin for collectors all over the world.
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