‘Buddy can you spare a dime?’ Antique coin worth a mint

You never know if something is worth a dime until you sell it. Well, a 10-cent piece made in 1873 has sold for $1.6 million at an auction in America.

With a 15 per cent buyer's fee tacked on, an anonymous bidder dipped into his pocket for $1.84 million to get hold of the antique dime.

Several bidders were looking to acquire the rare coin, minted in Carson City, Nevada, during a one-day run of dimes.

“On this one, we had four or five buyers over a million dollars. We had a fair amount of buyers pursuing it,” president of Stack's Bowers Galleries, which auctioned it during an American Numismatic Association convention, told The Associated Press.

“Generally speaking, in the coin auction business, you might get a couple of people fighting each other as they bid,” he added.

The 1873-CC “No Arrows” Liberty Seated dime was part of the Battle Born Collection, featuring one of every coin struck in Carson City before the local mint closed down in 1893.

A selection of 111 pieces went under the hammer for a total of nearly $10 million.