Number One Dime

The Number One Dime is an artifact of the fictional Scrooge McDuck universe, the first coin that Scrooge McDuck ever earned (or, according to some stories, produced). The Number One Dime first appeared in the story titled "The Round Money Bin", created by Carl Barks and first published in "Uncle Scrooge" #3 (September, 1953). It has been established by Don Rosa to be an 1875 Seated Liberty dime.

According to "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck" by Don Rosa, Scrooge earned the dime in 1877 in his hometown of Glasgow, when he started working as a shoeshine boy on his tenth birthday. Before that it belonged to Howard Rockerduck (the father of John D. Rockerduck). The customer who paid it to him, a ditchdigger called Burt, "cheated" Scrooge from Scrooge's point of view (an American dime being unspendable in Scotland). In reality, Scrooge's father, Fergus McDuck, gave Burt the dime specifically for paying Scrooge for his services. Scrooge McDuck never learned that fact, although Fergus did reveal it to Scrooge's sisters Matilda and Hortense. Burt and Magica De Spell, who learned about this when she traveled in time to the day Scrooge earned the Dime, are the only other ones who know. McDuck kept it as a reminder not to be fooled again in the future. When he emigrated to the US three years later, he carried it with him. Scrooge still has the dime and keeps it on a pillow under glass because it is very special to him. Donald Duck, Huey, Dewey and Louie, and Gladstone Gander among many others think it is really a lucky charm, but Scrooge himself maintains it has only sentimental value.

The first time Magica got the Dime took place in "The Midas Touch", the story where she and Emily Quackfaster debuted. Magica intended to create an amulet with coins belonged to rich people and offered one dollar (the amount may vary according to time and place of each publication) for one of Scrooge's dimes. Scrooge was so excited he accidentally sold the Dime. After realizing that, he ran after Magica and asked her to change it for another one (he couldn't force her, since she acquired it honestly) and she agrees, unaware it was his first dime. Scrooge was so happy he tells her it's the Number One Dime and Magica then steals it anyway and Scrooge and family go to Mt. Vesuvius to get it back.

In at least two stories, Magica gets the Dime and later realizes she turned it useless in the process. In The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck - Part 0 - Of Ducks, Dimes and Destinies, she steals the Dime before Scrooge earns it, but gives it back after realizing the Dime won't be the first coin earned by the richest man on Earth if he never actually gets it. In A Little Something Special, she teams up with Blackheart Beagle, the Beagle Boys and Flintheart Glomgold to get the Dime. While the other villains put Scrooge's money in a train, he reminds Magica he's no longer rich, thus making his first dime useless for her spell. Now that she has no idea of how to make her spell work, Scrooge gives her advice for a "price". Magica ends the story by stealing Flintheart's first coin.