Way back in 1968, my father got a roll of new dimes from the bank so he could look for mint defects. In the roll, he found a 1968 S dime, among all of the 1968 D's. The coin looks just like any other unc. 1968 dime... except the mintmark. Any ideas?
1968 S (proof) dime. Produced at the San Francisco mint for Proof Sets. Proof coins do occasionally find their way into circulation. Proof coins are struck on specially prepared dies and should have more radiant surfaces and more detailed elements than their business-struck counterparts.
I have the 1968 S, a proof, and a circulated dime with me now. Looking at them, the overall appearance is significantly more like the circulated one. the ridges are not as deep as the proof and the surfaces of the '68 S and the circulated dime are much duller than the proof.
A lot of strange things went on in that era. The implication of what you're saying ius that a '68 die began to be processed as a proof but was then shipped to Denver instead and it went into production. Is the mint mark undamaged?
Since I have not heard of a circulation S from that year, I would first suspect an impaired proof and circulation wear changed the look of the one found in the roll. I would show to a knowledgable dealer or post a picture here. When I hear hoofbeats I try to think of horses and not zebras. Anyone with a reference handy ever seen a business strike 1968 S dime?
I agree that it's quite improbable that they made only one and it's only now being reported. But when there are very few things about a story that might be wrong you have to consider zebras. We need a picture of this thing no matter what stripe it is.
The mint mark, and for that matter, the whole coin is not that damaged. It was only touched once-when it was taken from the roll and before it went in the case.
My father asked about it when he first got it, and was told that only proofs were made of that dime. He then put it in his coin collection and soon it was buried under other coins. He always knew it was there, but couldn't find it for years. Your right that they probably made more than one, though.
The thing is they probably couldn't have made many more than a single piece or it would have been reported. Those that got separated from their roll might be mistaken for a mishandled proof but with any significant mintage (ten or fifteen pieces) it would have been reported probably. If yours is real is is easily authenticated. It's entirely possible it's what you think it is but everyone is going to be dubious until it's proven or shown. Look at the rim of the coin on both sides. If it's square in cross section then it's probably just a proof and there's some confusion to where it was initially found. If it isn't square and really was in a roll then I'm going to guess it's real.
Looking at the rim, it is square, but a few other dimes I found in pocket change have the square rim, too... My father's family was fairly poor, so he did not think to keep the rest of the roll. The $5 he spent on the roll was most of his life savings... There is a small coin show near where I live happening in about 10 days. Maybe I will take it there...
Does th flame on the reverse have sharper divisions than the ordinary 1968 dime? This new reverse appears on only some S mint in 1968. But if it is on your coin, it indicates the reverse is also a proof style die. 1969 (P) came both ways and 1970 (P) and D came both ways. Then all came the new way until the next change.
I have learned never to say "never" or "always", but I have never seen that reverse on a 1968 dime other than on a 1968 S Proof.
IAW with the images provided, looks like you have an "impaired proof" meaning it entered circulation for an unspecified amount of time. The rims are indicative of proof coinage, what you don't see are the proof qualities.
This is beginning to remind me of a bag of silver dollars I went through in 1963. We got it from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. It was a Treasury bag within a FRB bag which meant it had been audited. It contained 999 pristine BU 1878 S and 1 beat up 1923 Peace dollar. I suspect the auditor switched his pocket piece for a new shiny one. Maybe we have a bank teller here that wanted one 1988 D unc dime for his collection.
