TOLEDO, Ohio — A remarkably uncommon dime, whose location had been unknown since the late 1970s, has been auctioned off for over $500,000.
The dime, minted by the U.S. Mint in San Francisco in 1975, features President Franklin D. Roosevelt and stands out as one of only two known examples lacking its distinctive “S” mint mark.

The coin was passed down to three sisters from Ohio following the death of their brother, who had securely stored it in a bank vault for over four decades.
It was sold for an impressive $506,250 in an online auction that ended on Sunday, as confirmed by Ian Russell, the president of GreatCollections, an auction house located in Irvine, California.

The other known version of the ‘1975 no S proof dime’ previously sold for $456,000 in a 2019 auction and was sold again shortly after to a private collector.
In total, the San Francisco Mint produced over 2.8 million special uncirculated “proof” sets in 1975, which included six coins and retailed for $7.

Years later, collectors noticed that two dimes from these sets did not have the mint mark.
The Ohio sisters, who preferred to keep their identities confidential, shared with Russell that they inherited one of the unique dimes.
Their brother and mother had previously purchased the first of the error coins discovered in 1978 for $18,200, equivalent to about $90,000 today.
Their parents, who managed a dairy farm, viewed the coin as a potential financial safeguard.