Are you a collector of some sort? How much would you be willing to spend on your coveted collector’s item? How about $2 million? That’s exactly what a coin collector in Tampa just paid for his item — a dime.
You read that correctly — one dime was recently auctioned off in Florida for $1,997,500. Just $2,500 shy of two big fat millions. Who in their right mind would pay two million dollars for something worth only $0.10?
This wasn’t just any dime — it’s one of the rarest coins in the world.
The collector purchased an 1894-S dime.
“The 1894-S Barber dime is a classic rarity in American coinage, often grouped with the 1804 dollar and the 1913 Liberty nickel as The Big Three of the United States numismatic rarities,” Heritage Auctions said in a press release.
“The 1894-S remains the most famous, mysterious, and elusive coin in the entire Barber series and has been the stuff of collector dreams since it was first mentioned in the numismatic press by Augustus Heaton in 1900.”
24 of these dimes were minted in San Francisco, however, fewer than 10 are known to still exist.
After purchasing such a rare find worth an exorbitant amount of money, the buyer wanted to remain anonymous.
Many coins that end up in auctions such as the Heritage Auction are usually priced in the thousands. It is less common for coins to sell into the millions – but it has happened a number of times.
A world record was broke in 2013 with a 1794 silver dollar auctioning for $10,016,875.
I hope that silver dollar is kept in a safe within a safe!
In fact, the United States minted 7 of the top 10 most expensive coins in the entire world. This is extremely impressive considering all of them were purchased for over $3.75 million.
The dime that was purchased is part of what is known as “The Big Three” of coin rarities.
The other two coins that make up The Big Three are the 1804 silver dollar and the 1913 Liberty nickel. Both of those coins sold for millions of dollars as well.
Think you have an 1894-S dime? You can get paid just to have it looked at!
“You will get $10,000 just for letting us see the piece and authenticate it,” Heritage Auctions said.
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Source: CNN; featured image credit: Daniel Oines via Flickr
