A 1975 proof dime has sold for more than the average price of a home in the US.
A coin collector called TreasureTown on TikTok posted a video sharing the proof coin and detailing how it sold for a staggering $456,000.
This particular dime is extremely rare as there are only two examples known to collectors today, making them more valuable than an average American home ($348,000 as of 2022).
They were discovered over 40 years ago and have since been kept by just a few owners.
The coin is called the 1975 NO S proof Roosevelt dime and is one of the rarest issues in American coinage.
The proof strike happens for a few reasons: early sample coins, checking dies, or for other archival purposes.
All proof strike coins should have been minted in San Francisco and have an S mintmark on the lower right side of the dime.
However, if your dime is missing that feature, it is most likely called a business strike coin.
This type of coin is minted and issued for commerce.
The 1975 dime missing the mintmark is not the one to look for this time as these were mass-produced.
Another factor to consider is the reflectivity on the proof coin.
Proof coins like this are known to have a mirrored, higher-quality surface than the average coin.
MORE ON THE PROOF COIN
Up until 1996, all US coinage dies were produced at the Philadelphia Mint, according to Heritage Auctions.
Once produced, the dies were shipped to various branch mints as needed along with their appropriate mint mark.
As the collector mentioned, all proof coins were struck at the San Francisco Mint in 1975, and all of the 2.8million proof 1975 dimes should have the S mintmark.
However, the San Francisco Mint also struck over 71.9million business-strike dimes with no mintmark that same year.
This was to help the Philadelphia Mint provide the appropriate amount of coins needed for circulation.
Because of this, it was nearly impossible to separate the business-strike coins that were struck at San Francisco from those struck at Philadelphia.
Coin expert Bill Gibbs revealed that even though all dies were manufactured in Philadelphia, the proof dies were polished to look like the proof finish in San Francisco.
He added that it appeared one of the dies with the missing mintmark, meant for business-strike production, was accidentally polished and used to strike a small run of proof dimes before the mistake was noticed.
This means that only two NO S dimes went out undetected and were released.
HOW TO FIND RARE COINS
Make sure to check your spare change for any rare pennies, nickels, dimes, and other coins as many of them could sell for thousands.
Typically, the most valuable coins are ones with a low mintage or an error, as collectors find those coins are some of the rarest.
Additionally, coin experts will pay top dollar if they are also well-struck.
A great website to check if your coins are worth anything is eBay.
You just need to search the full coin name, select the “sold” listing and then toggle the search to “highest value.”
