I just read an article about a 1975 proof dime minted in San Francisco that didn't have the "S" mint mark and they claim its worth value is $500K. Apparently, there are only 2 in existence, and one is going up for auction soon. Anyone else hear about this? Would a greaser missing the mint mark be the same? Or is this simply one of those bogus National Enquirer, The Globe, etc. stories?
One sold for $349,000 in 2011, so it's not an unreasonable estimate. You can follow bidding here: https://www.greatcollections.com/Coin/1655587
It is refreshing to see a true "no mint mark coin" amid all the trash that eBay (and some other places) are flooded with. I have never followed a GreatCollections auction before, but there are still 47 days left?! I never heard of auctions allowing that much time.
No it is straight up. The dies came from Philly and the SanFran mint was supposed to add the mintmark….. now I wouldn’t know how to tell the real deal from a greaser.
Two other threads on it on here. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/this-should-set-off-a-bit-of-a-scramble.414048/ and https://www.cointalk.com/threads/coin-news.414032/ Actually if you read the GC description, the other example sold for $516,000 in 2019. I don't doubt this one will go for that much; it's already at $308k with BP.
It’s for real, a no S 1975 Proof Dime. Only 2 are known. It’s not a greaser but I’m sure it was produced by a mint employee for some reason.
That 1975 No S is the same one that has been owned by an Ohio family for 45 years, so it is definitely interesting to see it go up for auction. All along, the one that sold in 2011 could have been the only one circulating among collectors! The mintmark punch die could've been damaged, or just flat-out worn, but it does raise suspicion as to a possible intentional creation. Hopefully it was an accident like other dimes such as the 1982 no P.
I don't believe it was intentional. Certainly not from start to finish. There's no reason to speculate about a damaged or worn out punch - they just never punched the die. Philadelphia punched the mint marks, and had total control over die manufacture until 1996 when Denver opened its own die making shop. So because SF never punched its own mint marks, for this to have been intentional someone in Philly had to coordinate with someone in SF - intentionally not punch the MM in Philly and then have someone intentionally coin them in SF. And then mint only two of them, and send them out in proof sets for some random customer to purchase. It doesn't make sense.
It's also possible that more than two were produced, and when they discovered the mistake they tried to recall all of them, maybe thinking they had, but let two slip out undetected. It seems unlikely to be intentional unless someone with mint connections wound up with at least one of them.
Don't forget, if you do wind up paying $500,000 or more for it, you get the rest of the original proof set with it!
It's worth reading the item description on GC as well as the Coin World article included with the auction. I think it is probably the article from January 1978, although the publication info is not in the clipping (it doesn't look like it's from 2011 when another article was published). Not mentioned in the PCGS blurb on these is that SF also struck almost 72 million circulation dimes in 1975 without mint marks. So in addition to the possibility that Philly shipped a proof die and neglected to punch the mint mark, SF could also have mistakenly "proofed up" a die intended for the circulation strikes. In that respect, it's possible that someone at SF intentionally "proofed up" a circulation die without someone in Philly being in on it. I still don't think that's likely. It's interesting how all the "no mint mark" nonsense originated from these. The article calls them "S-less" and "sans-S", and the TPGs currently call them "No S." Nobody called them "no mint mark" until the get rich from pocket change charlatans got involved.
Does this mean we'll start seeing fakes coming from China anytime now, like the 1955 double die penny and the copper 1943 penny.
Interesting question, since there are millions of real 1975 dimes without an S that shysters can try to pass off as proofs. I don't think I've ever seen China try to fake a proof. They seem to focus on fake toning/aging to cover up their horrible quality. There's a sucker born every minute though.
As stated earlier, the theory is that they caught the error quickly. Nobody ever said they only made two - they probably collected the mistakes and melted them. Lots of coins have had tons made that never left the mint. Certainly it's possible, perhaps likely, that more are out there. How many kids got a proof set from grandma in 1975, never looked at it since, and have never heard of the No S? I didn't know about it myself until a few years ago.
Looking at the close-up picture of the coin, I'd say it's over graded. It's got black fly specks which would knock it down to PR-64. There are many Proof dimes still in the mint holders that are better than that one. Of course they do have an "S" on them.
