Following the sudden passing of their brother, three sisters could be set to pocket their share of a huge cash windfall after discovering the value of the coin he left behind
Three sisters who inherited a coin from their late brother are set for a cash windfall after learning its true value some 40 years after it was secured in a bank vault.
The Ohio siblings are the owners of a singe dime (10 US cents), struck by the U.S. Mint in San Francisco in 1975. The mint produced almost three million special uncirculated “proof” sets that year featuring six coins and were sold for $7 each.
However, it wasn’t until a number of years later that coin collectors discovered two dimes from the set were missing the mint mark. The whereabouts of the highly sought after coins had remained a mystery for decades, according Ian Russell, president of GreatCollections, who added the sisters’ dime could fetch a jaw-dropping $500,000 (about £384,000) at auction.
Their dime, which depicts former US President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, is so valuable due to the missing ‘S’ mint mark for San Francisco. The second erroneous coin sold for $456,000 (about £350,000) five years ago at auction, before making its way on to a private collector.
“They were hidden for decades,” Russell told the Independent. “Most major collectors and dealers have never seen one.” He also revealed that the sisters – who want to remain anonymous – had told him that their brother and mother purchased the coin in 1978 for $18,200, around $90,000 (about £69,000) in today’s money. The family operated a dairy farm and saw the coin’s as a financial safety net should they ever encounter monetary difficulties.
One of the sisters told Russell their brother often spoke of the coin’s existence, but she never saw it until 2023 after he died suddenly. Russell, meanwhile, had already been made aware of the dime by the brother several years previously, and was in on the secret since that day too.
Scores of YouTube users were quick to hail the loving actions of the sisters’ mother and brother, after content creator Andy Jiang shared the moving tale online. “Screw the actual monetary amount it’s worth, it’s really beautiful it was setup to have them told how much after everyone had passed to let them in on the secret,” one person said. “RIP to the mum and brother, that’s truly a beautiful gesture.”
A second agreed: “It’s honestly so sweet because you can see how much their mother and brother loved them.” A third gushed: “Mum and brother looking out, even from the grave.” Whilst a fourth added: “I’m sorry they had to lose their mum and brother to find out about the dime, but what a beautiful thing they did for the family they left behind.”
