Currencies have been fetching real bucks at the auction market over the years, but a rare coin is pulling a lot of weight.
Many coin collectors will likely rummage through their stash once they understand that just one of the said coins earns its owner an amount that might make them consider retirement.
Rumors About Rare Items Spread Fast
A few years ago, it was reported that a 1975 “No-S” Proof Roosevelt dime fetched its owner $456,000.
The rare coin was sold at a Heritage Auctions sale on Sept. 6, 2019. Coin enthusiasts had searched for it for the past eight years before the sale.
How a Coin Sold for Over $500,000
However, that record sale for a single coin did not last for long. Five days shy of the first $456,000 sale, the buyers returned the coin to the auction table.
This time, that same 1975 No-S dime sold for $516,000. A Roosevelt dime collector wanted it badly enough to pay over half a million dollars for a single coin.
The Temptation To Seek for Easy Cash
The preceding report would inspire most people to do mental math on all the places where they could prospect for dimes. The possessor automatically becomes a millionaire with a handful of these rare coins.
But it doesn’t work that way. There’s the place of luck, but probability is also a glaring reality. The likelihood of finding the 1975 dime has been estimated to be 1 in 1.4 million.
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What Makes the 1975 No-S Dime Rare?
There are multiple reasons why the 1975 dime is a rarity. First, the coin has no inscription of “S” above the 1975 on the coin. This attribute earned the rare coin its “No-S” moniker.
Another reason it is very unlikely that an intentional prospector finds the rare dime is that the US Mint printed 2.8 million pieces of that dime set in 1975.
One in a Million Dime
So far, of the 2.8 million pieces of the 1975 dime, only two have been discovered to have no “S.” Finding this dime is even more difficult because the minting of the following series made it difficult; several other No-S Roosevelt dimes were created.
Coin World suggests that three such dimes were also minted in 1968, 1970, and 1983, making the 1975 No-S the rarest of the rarest.
How an Error Became the Obsession of Collectors
No one has a clear narrative of how the 1975 No-S error occurred, but one thing we can be sure of is that a die without the ‘S’ was used to stamp a couple of the dimes.
As a minting oversight or an intentional trial, a rare dime worth several thousand times its face value has been created. If it was an error, it has created an interesting sentiment value over the years.
Poor Quality Control in the Old US Mints?
Either unprofessional practices or mistakes, one of those was prevalent back then in the US Mint. A mint stamp operator could easily overlook these errors, thinking, “18 in a million errors won’t kill the US economy.”
However, the sentimental interest of collectors in recovering rare dimes has publicized several similar defects in minted coins.
Collectors Reveal Minting Errors
Coin World has pointed out many of these uncanny mistakes. For example, the die of a 1970-S Washington quarter was stamped on a 1940 Canadian quarter.
In another instance, the die of that same 1970-S Washington quarter was found struck on a 1900 Barber quarter. Knowing how these errors came about still does not solve the problem of finding a 1975 No-S despite its rarity.
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There’s a Reason the 1975 No-S is Called ‘Rare’
Interestingly, finding the two existing rare dimes while strutting along on the street or detecting metal on the beach is impossible. For one, the current collectors probably have them in some home vault or a safe deposit box.
Besides, even if you had the money to buy one of them at auction, history has it that the 1975 No-S dime seldom goes to auction. Their buyers often hold onto this rare dime for multiple years as collectibles.
Desperation is a Precursor to Getting Duped
However, if an inexperienced coin collector becomes too desperate, some dealers may sell them the regular 1975 Roosevelt dime at an expensive rate. The dealer must convince the buyer that the coin is rare, unique, and expensive.
Coin World also called attention to online dealers of dimes, who peddle the so-called “1975 Roosevelt Dime No Mint Mark.” Upon making efforts to run a fact-checking inquiry with the dealer, it was apparent they were only trying to sell circulated dimes for a few hundred dollars.
Buy Rare Dimes, but Exercise Caution
So, Coin World is doing all it can to sound the alarm to dime collectors, who could become victims of fictitious online dealers of rare 1975 dimes.
Collectors of rare coins should beware of such online dealers. Better buy your collectibles from auctions at which several other enthusiasts are in attendance. At least, the buyer gets to see, inquire about, and prospect what is being sold before parting with their cash.
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