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The Most Expensive Dime in the History of Currency

sfgate.com — John Feigenbaum flew out of San Jose this week in first class, with flip-flops on his feet, a T-shirt on his back and a dime worth $1.9 million in his pocket. It was the most expensive dime ever to pass through San Jose. That's because it is the most expensive dime in the history of dimes

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  • ChromaVita, on 10/10/2007, -20/+8Wait what? This isn't about drugs?
  • MasterThief117, on 10/10/2007, -0/+73"...who was unavailable for comment, perhaps because a person newly in possession of $1.9 million has got better things to do than answer a lot of questions."

    Smart writer.
    • tgahrt, on 10/10/2007, -1/+14"long-shuttered stone building whose front steps are primarily used these days by homeless people on their lunch break."

      funny too
  • pikpikcarrotmon, on 10/10/2007, -1/+16I think it's about time I rifled through my coin jar.
    • colpridenyc, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I have 1898 "v" Nickel but im not sure how much its worth. Hopefully 1.9 million. I can dream cant i.
    • themouth, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1True story: My father who's an amateur coin collector recently added a $60,000 addition to my parents' house. The collateral? One nickel. I don't recall the year, but it's a buffalo nickel and it's double-struck making it an extreme rarity. He found the nickel when I was about 10 in GENERAL CIRCULATION while we were at lunch together. To this day I have never seen my father drive home so carefully. The nickel now sits secure in a vault like the dime in the story. It ain't no 1.9 million but hey still a great story.
  • justsomedigger, on 10/10/2007, -4/+13picture..
    http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/news_images/11183_31873_1.jpg
    • Neem, on 10/10/2007, -3/+4Notice the Absence of "In god we trust" from the dime. Apparently a lot of people went to hell back then for not carrying god certified currency.
    • Frosty122, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0doesn't even look like American currency
  • cbarge, on 10/10/2007, -0/+28Reading that headline I immediately thought of Ducktales.
    • 2oonhed, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1all the nickels get dumped in the ocean????.......MAN that was a long time ago.
      • 2oonhed, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1what? dugg down because tards don't get the reference?.....I'm talking about a 25 year old comic book where (was it Uncle Donald? or Scooge McDuck?)....I think it was Uncle Donald hoards all of the 1951 nickels and dumps them into the ocean to increase the value of the one 1951 nickel he keeps, only he loses that one somehow. Donalds 5 little nephews were involved too.

        I laugh that a comic book reference could be over a 14 year old diggers head....but apparently, it's true. It's a sad state state of affairs.
  • justsomedigger, on 10/10/2007, -14/+2pic..
    http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/news_images/11183_31873_1.jpg
  • justsomedigger, on 10/10/2007, -14/+2pic...
    http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/news_images/11183_31873_1.jpg
  • tomisina, on 10/10/2007, -1/+18ok neat little story but i got over the fact that he was wearing flip flops after the 3rd sentence... people wear flip flops into the white house now-adays....
  • heynow21, on 10/10/2007, -8/+0That dime is top of the line, cute face and probably a slim waist with a big behind.
  • madroneDorf, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Better watch out for Magica De Spell, she might use the Dime to Rule the world... Forever More!
    • TheGeek27, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Scrooge McDuck was unavailable for comment.
  • decruncher, on 10/10/2007, -2/+16I, myself, collect Canadian quarters... I got about six of em...
    • zinnate, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8you sir, have a gag reflex of steel!
  • Thefatheroftime, on 10/10/2007, -1/+22For he is the Lord of the Dimes. One dime to rule them all!
    • archlich, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1I could have sworn I read Lord of the Flies. Here piggy....
  • Ductapemaster, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10Man this guy is paranoid...
    • txtphile, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7I guess he didn't wanna come out of pocket for 2 million. In other news, I'm gonna start mugging people in flip-flops.
    • psykiv, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12You'd be too if you were carrying around $1.9m in your pocket, thats not even yours.
      Something tells me the type of person who would spend $1.9m on a coin is also the type of person that would have you killed if you lose said coin.

      With that said, picture of dime:

      http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b5/Scrooge-1Dime.JPG
      • murder1, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1But why would anyone know he is carrying a $1.9 million dime? Are there coin connoisseurs that tap phones to discover when big deals are going down?

        Unless the seller or the buyer are making announcements than no one should know.
        • motorhead9999, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Well, its more the fact that any thief worth his money can spot someone acting funny and realize they're carrying something valuable . If they see someone who keeps fiddling with a briefcase suspiciously, then they'll think there's something valuable in there. Pickpockets do that all the time. They see someone constantly checking their wallet, or grabbing it, and they'll know he's more than likely got some good stuff in there.
  • Diggaphram, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12Only the airline industry would upgrade the one passenger in coach wearing flip-flops and trying to blend in.
    • imikedaman, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10It's kind of hard for other industries to do that when they don't have "passengers" or "coach class".
    • Error601, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I've been upgraded to first wearing sport sandals and shorts. Does that count? A company I worked for had a policy of only buying unrestricted coach so I'd get bumped up anytime coach was full.
  • 2oonhed, on 10/10/2007, -0/+23 "did not intend to spend it, as there is no longer anything to buy in New York for 10 cents"......lol
  • phuzzy3d, on 10/10/2007, -9/+3Man, that writer sucked. Not that I would be a better writer or anything.
    • cbartlett, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5I thought the article was well written. Very tongue-in-cheek and quite laughable.
  • iwinyoulose, on 10/10/2007, -4/+6"It's a long-shuttered stone building whose front steps are primarily used these days by homeless people on their lunch break"
    Homeless people on their lunch break? come on..
  • BeyondGoodNEvil, on 10/10/2007, -6/+2I just can't relate to a person who considers all the things that exist in the world and what they'd most like to spend a few $Million of their money on, like say, a McLaren F1, or maybe investing it in something that might actually help humanity survive better on this planet and beyond... and decides that a ***** old dime is #1. I don't get sentimentalists. I just can't get that there are enough people, and enough demand for that specific type of dime that just happens to have the million or so metal atoms composing the 'S' mintmark, that someone wouldn't let it go for only $1.8 Million but required a whole 1,000,000 more dimes to part with it. Yes, 1 MILLION dimes = $100k.
    • egrumling, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4He bought it as an investment. That means he expects to sell it later for a profit. A McLaren F1 will loose value, as for survival... well, if I could afford a 2 million dollar coin, I'd have the attitude that survival of the fittest is likely the best way to go. Especially if he works for one of the big Wall St. investment houses. They watch Gordon Gecko for inspiration.
    • nextyoyoma, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3I'm sure someone who spends that much money on a coin has some OTHER money to invest in the things you speak of.
    • BeyondGoodNEvil, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Duh it's an investment. Again, I don't understand someone who would buy it at $1.8M or the fact that there are people who would actually consider that a low price and buy it to resell again. Seems we have all sorts of tulip bubbles going on today. Piece of ***** modern artwork selling for $100 million, now an old piece of metal with certain arrangement on it selling for $1.8 million. That's a hell of a lot of bones. It just shows how weak the dollar is, so much of it around that people are willing to invest in ***** cause some other sucker who has more bones than he needs will pay even higher.
  • kindrobot, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4"The $1.9 million dime was produced at the stately Old Mint on Fifth Street, next to the doughnut place. It's a long-shuttered stone building whose front steps are primarily used these days by homeless people on their lunch break."

    "Hey buddy, can you spare a dollar?"

    Sure, you find any dimes, I'll trade ya.
  • Dissipate, on 10/10/2007, -5/+3This is why coin collecting has a bad reputation. $1.9 million for that ugly and boring thing? Very lame. For $1.9 million there are some beautiful works of art to be had.
    • sabach, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Coin collecting has a bad reputation? Since when?
    • nextyoyoma, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2One man's trash...
    • BeyondGoodNEvil, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1***** anyone who dugg you down. This society is upside down. Very few have any sense of tangible value anymore. Everyone is trying to cash in on someone else's misadventurous spending. Objectively, $1.9 million is an absurd price for a tiny piece of metal. Whoever bought it is a fool, unless he finds another fool. There are much better investments to be made that aren't part of a speculative bubble, which are MUCH safer and yield MUCH greater return.

      Now, there are some good looking coins around, like the Liberty Walking 1/2 dollar and mercury dime, but coin collecting outside gold/silver/aesthetic collecting is pretty dumb. All the invested energy put into getting identical coins that simply have different mintmarks comes off as mentally retarded.
  • Brick86, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Actually the transaction resulted in the seller making 1,899,999.90
  • HMTKSteve, on 10/10/2007, -1/+14Why do I see this turning into a Steve Martin movie where he "accidentally" spends the dime in an airport vending machine and then spends the rest of the movie trying to get it back?
    • Darrelc, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2I think theres already a film like that? Im sure ive seen one like that
    • BeyondGoodNEvil, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1No, I think you're thinking of Schindler's List.
  • ajb2015, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7"Feigenbaum did not actually take the dime out of his briefcase, as it is suspicious to stare at dimes."

    hilarious sentence.
  • FIip, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2He kept a $1,900,000 dime in his pocket? No wonder he was paranoid about it the whole time.

    He should've kept it locked in the briefcase so that he could get some damn sleep.
  • rmeddy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1This makes me want to play with my coin purse..... What were we talking about?
  • rbnelson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2So the guy wore flip-flops, laid back clothes, and didn't want to ride first class (but took it anyway when it was offered) in order to not look suspicious...yet he is carrying a f'n briefcase that he periodically reaches into to feel for the dime, but never looks at it and keeps his foot on top of the briefcase the rest of the time. Yeah, that's not suspicious.
  • TacticalPenguin, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4So this guy gets 6%, $114,000, for flying across the country to give a dime to some dude?
    • tritiumpie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Read again, he *split* 6%. So half that.
      • flipcheck, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Yeah, he *split* 6%, you non-attentive reader of dime transactions! Sheesh!
    • nextyoyoma, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2beats flippin burgers
  • jmchez, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Look! That guy just got upgraded to first class. That's highly suspicious. Let's jump him.
    Check it out! That guy is the only one in first class wearing flip flops. That's highly suspicious. Let's jump him.
    What? That guy is now looking at a dime. That's highly suspicious. Lets jump him.

    Are we going to jump this guy or what?
  • tritiumpie, on 10/10/2007, -5/+3The buyer actually only spent $1,899,999.90. (He got 10 cents back as change.)
  • flipcheck, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4"Neither man dared to take out the dime and look at it. They sipped their beverages and stared at their watches."

    The Dime is alive and has these guys by the balls. It's found a new host.
  • YvesKlein, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10They should have hired Christopher Walken to carry that miserable hunk of metal in his ass.
  • EXreaction, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1What an idiot.

    Send it via FedEx and put a huge amount of insurance on it. If they loose the dime you get even more $ than it was worth, unlike what would happen if that guy lost the dime, it would be gone and you'd loose everything.
    • duckarrowtypes, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3LOSE! IT'S "LOSE" GODDAMMIT.
    • BeyondGoodNEvil, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Or maybe you'd LOSE everything! GOD DAMNIT LEARN TO SPELL THAT WORD!
  • Nidy1, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1...who the ***** cares? I just spent 5 minutes reading an article about a man traveling across the country with a dime, waiting for the point of the story. It never came.
  • dodoman90, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1When that guy dies, what is he going to tell the IRS? Will the dime be worth 10 cents and he only pays 5 cents in tax?
  • acu8509, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1why does it look like the guy on the dime is roman?
  • OptionNewbie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Extra pocket in your pocket. Have you ever been unable to pull change out of your pocket because it gets stuck in that little tiny pocket in the pocket? If I were this guy, I would arrive to deliver the stupid coin and never find it in my damn pocket!
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