Ok thanks! So how would you know if you had a dime with no s mark? Are they only found in proof sets?
Um, because there wouldn't be an S on it? San Francisco went to Proof-only on Dimes in 1968; all San Francisco strikes before that were circulation strikes.
They are proof coins and not all proofs were struck in San Francisco. From 1955 to 1968, the San Francisco mint was closed. So all proofs from those years were struck in Philadelphia and bear no mint mark.
I should make that clearer. In 1968, the proof coinage operation at the Philadelphia mint was moved to the San Francisco mint that had been closed for 13 years. My guess is one or two of the die makers from Philadelphia got transferred too, and when they started, they forgot to put a mintmark on one of the dies. Easy mistake if you had been making dies at Philadelphia for years without a mintmark. So the famous "1968 No Mint Dime" is a proof coin without a mint mark. Yes they were only sent out in proof sets, but that was in 1968, almost 50 years ago. So you might get lucky and find one other than in a set, but if you do, it will be a proof. There was also a 1975 no s proof, but how it came about is a guess too.
Ok i didnt know the San Francisco mint was closed during that period but i looked it up and found that in 1968 and 1975 that the San Francisco mint had some dimes with no mark but was only found in proof sets. I had found a 1968 with no mark in some change but its obviously a philly mint since i didnt find it in a proof set.
There is also a "No P" dime . In 1982 all Philadelphia minted coins except for the cents, should have had a P mint mark. These were all business strikes released into circulation. Somehow some of them didn't get the mark. They aren't as rare as the proofs, but they are out there.
Awesome thanks for the info, i will have to go through the dimes again and see, i believe there was 2 1982's i had in my change cup.
Rosy is a descriptive color as in "that kids face is rosy" Roosie is the short name for Roosevelts But we knew what you meant.
Well, to complicate things, some of those few leaked into circulation and became worn. They are not identifiable as "No S Proofs" without exacting and specific knowledge of the dies involved - you have to know specific die markers - and as far as I know that's not public knowledge. A good numismatist with an example of a No S Proof could come up with those markers, but that's well beyond the dimensions of my wallet.
@Schmotz39 - Here is the 1970 "No S" Proof Roosevelt Dime that I found in an original proof set a few years ago. This is one of the valuable ones - the proof coin missing the mint mark - not the normal business strike version. Sometimes a picture helps more, IMO.
Congrats! That would be a nice find I was just a little confused earlier about the missing S mint mark and how to tell if was missing considering the fact that the Philly mint didnt put mint marks on dimes during 1968 and 1975. Now i know it was just the San Francisco proof sets that had the missing mint mark.
Yeah, I kind of wish I still had it. But I'm sure another one will pop by at some point. Keeping my eyes open for a 1971 No S Nickel now
You devil.......how could you let that one go? Though, knowing you somewhat, I do understand. Sheesh though........
Actually, I traded it for a Perth Mint 1 ounce bar of the shiny yellow metal...so I probably made out better than if I'd kept it. Was an offer I couldn't refuse... I remember this coin fondly every time a dealer or collector tells me that cherry picking varieties are a waste of time. You know what isn't a waste of time? Educating yourself. (Side note: If it had been a Jefferson nickel variety, I'd have kept it.)
