A dime that sat for 46 years in an Ohio bank vault sold for over $500,000 last weekend, according to the California-based auctioneer that oversaw the sale.
The Proof 1975 Dime was minted in San Francisco in 1975 and bears the profile of Franklin D. Roosevelt. That year, the United States Mint produced 2.84 million proof sets, according to Ian Russell of GreatCollections , the California auctioneer who handled the sale.
What sets the dime apart from others of its time is that it lacks the “S” mark needed to be on all proof coins struck at the U.S. Mint in San Francisco, Russell confirmed to USA TODAY Friday morning.
It’s one of two coins made erroneously without the marking, Russell said in a news release about the sale.
The dime that sold last weekend garnered over 200 bids Sunday night and sold for $506,250, nearly 30 times what the previous wonders paid for the coin 46 years ago in 1978. The sale set a new record, Russell said.
According to Russell, it was a Los Angeles customer who discovered the coin lacked the marking in 1977. The customer ordered five sets by mail and noticed that two of the five sets were missing the “S” marking.