Of Ducks, Dimes and Destinies
Of Ducks, Dimes and Destinies, or Of Ducks and Dimes and Destinies, is a 1995 Scrooge McDuck comic by Don Rosa. Even though it was not originally a part of Rosa's The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, it became known as Part 0.
| "Of Ducks, Dimes and Destinies" | |
|---|---|
 Scan of the first page | |
| Story code | D 91249 |
| Alternative title | "Of Ducks and Dimes and Destinies" |
| Story | Don Rosa |
| Ink | Don Rosa |
| Hero | Scrooge McDuck |
| Pages | 15 |
| Layout | 4 rows per page |
| Appearances | Scrooge McDuck Donald Duck Huey, Dewey and Louie Magica De Spell |
| First publication | June 12, 1995 |
The story was first published in the Danish Anders And & Co. #1995-24; the first American publication was in Uncle Scrooge #297, in April 1996.
Plot
While dining at Donald Duck's house, Huey, Dewey, and Louie ask Scrooge McDuck to tell them how he got his Number One Dime. Scrooge begins a story of his early life as a shoe-shine boy in Glasgow around 1877. As he tells the story, Magica De Spell watches everything from her crystal ball. She sees an opportunity to go back in time and take the dime. Acting quickly, she uses a magical candle to send herself to Glasgow on the day Scrooge earned his first dime.
In Glasgow, she meets Howard Rockerduck, future father of John D. Rockerduck, who is looking for a wife. To impress her, Rockerduck gives coins to a group of passing children. Thinking one of the children must be Scrooge, Magica jumps after the coins and finds the Number One Dime, a U.S. 1875 "Seated Liberty" Dime.
Unfortunately for her, Matilda McDuck has found it first and the presence of a police officer at the moment keeps Magica from stealing it. Magica tries to buy the dime, but Matilda, along with her sister, Hortense McDuck, decides to give it to their father. Upon seeing him, Magica believes Scrooge somehow followed her back in time and says she'll fight him through the ages. The man, Fergus McDuck, states the only Scrooge he knows is his 10-year-old son. Fergus then tells his daughters this dime might be the inspiration Scrooge needs to focus his energy in the work.
Before he puts his plan to work, Magica tries to buy the dime from him, but he says his son's future is more important to him. Magica says there's something in her purse he would find more interesting. Out of curiosity, Fergus looks, only to be hit by a smoke bomb while Magica steals the dime. Fergus then starts to chase Magica, who once again "borrows" Howard's cab to escape.
Fergus gets a wagon and eventually reaches Magica. After going through all of this, Howard decides to return to America. She asks him why that dime is so special for him. He replies that the McDucks love money, and Magica would only ask such a question if she had never met a McDuck before.
Fergus meets Burt the ditch digger and asks him a favor: he would ask Scrooge to shine his shoes and give him the dime as payment. As Fergus (correctly) believes, Scrooge will be fooled (since American dimes cannot be spent in Scotland) and will keep the dime as a reminder not to be fooled again. After Fergus and his daughters leave, Magica, who "can't seem to alter history", decides to "twist" it. She makes a deal with Burt: she'll give him two shillings in exchange for the dime; he keeps one and gives the other one to Scrooge. Burt agrees, but the plan goes awry when Magica accidentally drops the dime, which is found by an honest shoe-shine boy, who delivers a speech about the importance of keeping every single dime and his hopes of earning his own dimes very soon.
After recovering the dime, Magica senses something familiar in this speech and realizes the boy is Scrooge McDuck. Since she still has to wait a little more than half an hour to be sent back to present time, she watches Scrooge polishing Burt's shoes. Scrooge faints after finishing the job and Burt decides to spend the two shillings on a store next door, so Scrooge still hasn't earned any money. Magica taunts Scrooge that he will have to wait until he finally earns his first dime, until she understands that, since Scrooge still hasn't earned the dime, it's not yet the first coin earned by the world's richest duck. Using her last seconds in the past, she gives him the dime, so history goes back to normal.
Back in the present, Scrooge still thinks the story of how he earned his first dime isn't very interesting. Nevertheless, he says he would like to thank the one responsible for his earning the dime. Hearing Scrooge from Mt. Vesuvius, Magica says: "You're @#%*@ welcome!".