The 1894-S dime sold for US$1,250,500

Infobae (3 September 2026) reports that an 1894-S 10-cent dime sold for US$1,250,500 on 1 September at Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ Rarities Night. The example — known as having belonged to numismatist Q. David Bowers — returned to the market after almost 36 years off the public block.

Twenty-four struck, nine known

The coin was struck in San Francisco in June 1894, when demand for new coin had fallen after the Panic of 1893. The firm cites a mintage of only 24 pieces and nine examples identified today. The value is not the face or the silver: it is that scarcity, the survivors, and the provenance.

The type is the Barber series (Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber): Liberty’s profile, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and the date on the obverse; a wreath around ONE DIME and the San Francisco S on the reverse.

From US$4,750 to more than a million

Bowers bought the coin in 1957, at 19, in the Empire Collection sale: he paid US$4,750 against a US$5,000 estimate. He later resold it for US$6,000. The same piece brought US$77,000 in October 1987 and US$93,500 in 1990. Infobae, with Stack’s Bowers, puts the 2026 hammer at about 263 times the 1957 price.

Before this sale, the firm says, only five 1894-S dimes had reached auction since 2005, at US$1.3 million to US$2.16 million. The pre-sale estimate here was US$1.5 million; the result landed US$249,500 below it. The buyer was not named.

More detail in Infobae (opens in a new tab).