A coin collector's dream: Rare dime auctioned for $2M

TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 8 (UPI) -- A rare U.S. dime minted in 1894 was sold for $2 million at a Tampa coin auction.

The 1894-S Barber dime -- designed by Charles E. Barber, the "S" indicating it is from the San Francisco Mint – is one of 24 made and the best of eight or nine known to exist in numismatists' collections.

The finest-known example was sold by Heritage Auctions Thursday to an unidentified buyer during the Florida United Numismatists show at the Tampa Convention Center.

The auctioned coin itself has a history as well. It has historically been a part of the collections of some of coin collecting's most prominent names, and with an 1804 U.S. dollar and a 1913 Liberty nickel, form the "Big Three" of sought-after U.S. coins.

The hobby's folklore suggests San Francisco Mint Superintendent John Daggett's daughter Hallie spent a few examples of the coin on ice cream cones in 1894.

"This particular dime is one of only eight or nine that are known to exist and this is the finest specimen of those examples," said Todd Imhof of Heritage Auctions.