VOA新闻杂志2024--A Rare Coin, Hidden for Years, Sells for Half a Million Dollars

A rare dime¹ bought by an Ohio farm family in the 1970s was recently sold for just over $500,000.

In 1975, the United States Mint in San Francisco produced the coin, which has a face value of one-tenth of one U.S. dollar.

A mint is where a government produces forms of money.

The coin shows the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt. It is one of just two dimes² of its kind known to exist without a special "S" mark.

Three sisters from Ohio received the dime after the death of their brother, who had kept it in a bank for more than 40 years.

The coin sold for $506,250 in an online sale, said Ian Russell, president of GreatCollections, an auction³ house based in California.

The only other known example of the "1975 'no S' proof dime" sold at a 2019 auction for $456,000. It was then sold again months later to a private collector.

The mint in San Francisco made more than 2.8 million special "proof" sets in 1975. The sets had six coins and cost $7. A few years later, collectors discovered that two dimes from the set did not have the mint mark.

Russell said the sisters from Ohio, who did not want to be identified, told him that they inherited one of those two dimes.

Their brother and mother bought the coin for $18,200 in 1978, which would amount to around $90,000 today.

Their parents operated a dairy farm. They considered the coin a form of investment.

Words in This Story

dime - n. a coin that represents one-tenth of one U.S. dollar

face value -n. the value stated on a piece of money

mint - n. a place where coins are made

auction - n. a sale of property to the highest bidder⁴

proof -n. a specially prepared coin that is usually very shiny

1 dime   

n.（指美国、加拿大的钱币）一角

参考例句：

• A dime is a tenth of a dollar.一角银币是十分之一美元。
• The liberty torch is on the back of the dime.自由火炬在一角硬币的反面。

2 dimes   

n.（美国、加拿大的）10分铸币( dime的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pennies, nickles, dimes and quarters are United States coins. 1分铜币、5分镍币、1角银币和2角5分银币是美国硬币。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In 1965 the mint stopped putting silver in dimes. 1965年，铸币厂停止向10分硬币中加入银的成分。 来自辞典例句

3 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

4 bidder   

n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人

参考例句：

• TV franchises will be auctioned to the highest bidder.电视特许经营权将拍卖给出价最高的投标人。
• The bidder withdrew his bid after submission of his bid.投标者在投标之后撤销了投标书。