The vast majority of dimes are worth just that—a dime, or ten cents to the dollar. However, one particular dime, featuring an image of U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, recently fetched $506,250 when it was put up for sale by GreatCollections, a California-based auction house specializing in rare and antique coins.
The first Roosevelt dimes entered circulation in 1946, exactly one year after Roosevelt died. Designed by engraver John R. Sinnock and inscribed with the words “Liberty” and “In God We Trust,” the coins are supposed to carry one-letter marks designating the city where they were produced: D for Denver, S for San Francisco, and so on.
While minting is a heavily automated process, mistakes do occasionally slip through. The GreatCollections website noted, since 1968, the San Francisco Mint is known to have produced a total of six dimes that don’t display the branch’s signature S. The dime sold at the auction, which concluded on October 27, was one of those six.
The S-less Roosevelt dime in its display case. Photo: GreatCollections.
According to the auction house, the dime was produced in 1975. The coin was not intended for circulation, but part of a proof set celebrating the country’s 200th birthday. Aside from the Roosevelt dime, this president-themed series also included an Abraham Lincoln cent, a Thomas Jefferson nickel, a bicentennial George Washington quarter, a bicentennial John F. Kennedy half dollar, and a bicentennial Dwight Eisenhower dollar.
At the time, the six-coin set was sold for $7, or roughly $31 when adjusted for inflation. The set containing the auction’s dime was acquired by a California collector in 1977. Recognizing the dime’s value, the collector submitted it for authentication at ANACS, a coin grading company that determines the authenticity and condition of rare coins.
The Roosevelt dime with other presidential coins from the 1975 proof set. Photo: GreatCollections.
Its status verified, the dime passed through a number of hands before finally ending up in the ownership of an anonymous family from Ohio that GreatCollections refers to as “Ruth E.” By this point, growing demand had caused the value of the coin to surge to $18,200 or $90,000 in today’s terms—a price the family’s parents were willing to pay as, according to Sky News, they thought it would be a wise investment for their children.
After its acquisition, the coin passed down from the parents to their son, who kept it in a bank vault. Here it stayed for over four decades, until his death, after which his three surviving sisters sought out GreatCollections. A wise investment, indeed.