Of Ducks, Dimes and Destinies
Encyclopedia
Of Ducks Dimes and Destinies, or Of Ducks and Dimes and Destinies, even though it was not originally a part of The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
, it became Part 0.
is dining at Donald's
house. Donald comments about the fact that, even though Donald never charges Scrooge when he eats there, Scrooge charges Donald when Donald eats at Scrooge's house. Scrooge says it's because he entertains his nephews about his adventures.
Huey, Dewey and Louie
then ask him to tell how he got the Number One Dime. He says it's not so interesting and tells he was then a shoe-shine boy in Glasgow
in 1877. The boys then ask how Scrooge earned an American dime
in Scotland
. Scrooge himself never understood that and keeps telling the story, unaware that Magica De Spell
was watching everything from her crystal ball. She starts thinking about how a 10-year-old Scrooge wouldn't be so tough as his present-day self and remembers about a magic candle
that has the power of sending someone back in time for one hour. She uses the candle to send herself to the Glasgow of the day Scrooge McDuck earned his first dime.
In Glasgow, she doesn't seem to find Scrooge as soon as she thought so she decides to take a cab. Then she meets Howard Rockerduck, future father of John D. Rockerduck
, then a single American man who was looking for a wife in Glasgow. He tells her about his life, while she looks at some street kids wondering if Scrooge is among them. Howard, seeing it as a chance to impress Magica, throws some coins to the kids. Magica makes the connection: American + Coin + Poor kids... and jumps after the coins hoping to find the Number One Dime and actually finds and recognizes it from the other times she had it on her hands. The Dime is a U.S. 1875 "Seated Liberty" Dime. (Note: The date is hard to read in the comic and almost looks like 1877, that series having unusually curvy date fonts, but the author, Don Rosa
, confirmed it at a Convention in 2006, his explanation being (a) 1875 seemed like a 'round' figure, and (b) it was not unlikely to find a 2-year old coin so far from its point of origin, but a same-year coin would be less-likely to be found so far away.)
Unfortunately for her, Matilda McDuck has found it first and the presence of a police officer at the moment kept Magica from stealing it. Magica tries to buy the dime (she obviously forgot it won't have powers before being the first coin
earned by the world's richest man) 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 asks her to calm down and identifies himself as Fergus McDuck and states the only Scrooge he knows is his 10-year-old son. Fergus 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 lad's future is more important (he was actually waiting until being sure she would reach her top price). Magica says there's something in her purse he would find more interesting. out of curiosity
, Fergus looks, only to be hit by foof bombs while Magica steals the dime and thinks he would be interested in knowing she always carries foof bombs. Fergus then starts to chase Magica like Scrooge does in present time. Magica once again "borrows" Howard's cab and thinks it's enough to lose Fergus, but it's not so easy to escape from a McDuck
after stealing money from him.
Fergus gets a wagon and eventually reaches Magica. After going through all of this, Howard decides to return to America
. In a last effort, she reminds him she's a woman and he probably wouldn't lay his hands on her. Fergus proves her wrong. She asks him why is that dime so special for him and he tells her how the McDucks love money and how her question makes him think she never met any McDucks before.
After that, Fergus meets Burt the ditchdigger and asks him a favor
: he would ask Scrooge to shine his shoes and give the dime as payment
. As Fergus (correctly) believes, Scrooge will feel 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 made a deal with Burt: she'll give two shilling
s in exchange for the dime; he keeps one and gives the other one to Scrooge. Burt agrees and Magica is very happy (she forgot this "twist" will turn one of these shillings into Scrooge's first coin) until she accidentally drops the dime, which is found by an honest shoe-shine boy who gives 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 have to wait a little more than half an hour until being 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 schillings on a store next door, so Scrooge still hasn't earned any money. Magica laughs at how Scrooge will have to wait until he finally earns his first dime, until it finally makes her understand 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 went back to normal.
Back in present, Scrooge, still unaware of how Magica almost changed history, still thinks the history of how he earned his first dime isn't very interesting and, upon seeing his current situation, says he would like to thank the one responsible for him to have the dime. Hearing it from Mt. Vesuvius, Magica says: "Curse you. You're welcome."
The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck is a comic book story by Don Rosa about Scrooge McDuck. Originally, the story had twelve chapters totalling 212 pages...
, it became Part 0.
Plot
Scrooge McDuckScrooge McDuck
Scrooge McDuck is a cartoon character created in 1947 by Carl Barks and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Scrooge is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a red or blue frock coat, top hat, pince-nez glasses, and spats...
is dining at Donald's
Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald is most...
house. Donald comments about the fact that, even though Donald never charges Scrooge when he eats there, Scrooge charges Donald when Donald eats at Scrooge's house. Scrooge says it's because he entertains his nephews about his adventures.
Huey, Dewey and Louie
Huey, Dewey and Louie
Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck are a trio of fictional, anthropomorphic ducks who appear in animated cartoons and comic books published by the Walt Disney Company. Identical triplets, the three are Donald Duck's nephews. Huey, Dewey, and Louie were created by Ted Osborne and Al Taliaferro, and first...
then ask him to tell how he got the Number One Dime. He says it's not so interesting and tells he was then a shoe-shine boy in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
in 1877. The boys then ask how Scrooge earned an American dime
Dime (United States coin)
The dime is a coin 10 cents, one tenth of a United States dollar, labeled formally as "one dime". The denomination was first authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792. The dime is the smallest in diameter and is the thinnest of all U.S...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Scrooge himself never understood that and keeps telling the story, unaware that Magica De Spell
Magica De Spell
Magica De Spell is a fictional character of the Scrooge McDuck universe, a sorceress created by Carl Barks. She constantly steals or attempts to steal Scrooge McDuck's Number One Dime, which she believes will play a vital role in magically obtaining the same fabulous wealth of its...
was watching everything from her crystal ball. She starts thinking about how a 10-year-old Scrooge wouldn't be so tough as his present-day self and remembers about a magic candle
Candle
A candle is a solid block or cylinder of wax with an embedded wick, which is lit to provide light, and sometimes heat.Today, most candles are made from paraffin. Candles can also be made from beeswax, soy, other plant waxes, and tallow...
that has the power of sending someone back in time for one hour. She uses the candle to send herself to the Glasgow of the day Scrooge McDuck earned his first dime.
In Glasgow, she doesn't seem to find Scrooge as soon as she thought so she decides to take a cab. Then she meets Howard Rockerduck, future father of John D. Rockerduck
John D. Rockerduck
John D. Rockerduck is a fictional character from the Duck universe. He is one of Scrooge McDuck's main rivals. His name is a play on that of John D. Rockefeller, the American capitalist and philanthropist...
, then a single American man who was looking for a wife in Glasgow. He tells her about his life, while she looks at some street kids wondering if Scrooge is among them. Howard, seeing it as a chance to impress Magica, throws some coins to the kids. Magica makes the connection: American + Coin + Poor kids... and jumps after the coins hoping to find the Number One Dime and actually finds and recognizes it from the other times she had it on her hands. The Dime is a U.S. 1875 "Seated Liberty" Dime. (Note: The date is hard to read in the comic and almost looks like 1877, that series having unusually curvy date fonts, but the author, Don Rosa
Don Rosa
Keno Don Hugo Rosa, known simply as Don Rosa, is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his stories about Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck and other characters created by Carl Barks for Disney comics, such as The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck.-Early life:Don Rosa's grandfather,...
, confirmed it at a Convention in 2006, his explanation being (a) 1875 seemed like a 'round' figure, and (b) it was not unlikely to find a 2-year old coin so far from its point of origin, but a same-year coin would be less-likely to be found so far away.)
Unfortunately for her, Matilda McDuck has found it first and the presence of a police officer at the moment kept Magica from stealing it. Magica tries to buy the dime (she obviously forgot it won't have powers before being the first coin
Coin
A coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
earned by the world's richest man) 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 asks her to calm down and identifies himself as Fergus McDuck and states the only Scrooge he knows is his 10-year-old son. Fergus tells his daughters this dime
Dime (United States coin)
The dime is a coin 10 cents, one tenth of a United States dollar, labeled formally as "one dime". The denomination was first authorized by the Coinage Act of 1792. The dime is the smallest in diameter and is the thinnest of all U.S...
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 lad's future is more important (he was actually waiting until being sure she would reach her top price). Magica says there's something in her purse he would find more interesting. out of curiosity
Curiosity
Curiosity is an emotion related to natural inquisitive behavior such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in human and many animal species. The term can also be used to denote the behavior itself being caused by the emotion of curiosity...
, Fergus looks, only to be hit by foof bombs while Magica steals the dime and thinks he would be interested in knowing she always carries foof bombs. Fergus then starts to chase Magica like Scrooge does in present time. Magica once again "borrows" Howard's cab and thinks it's enough to lose Fergus, but it's not so easy to escape from a McDuck
Clan McDuck
The Clan McDuck is a fictional family in the style of a Scottish clan, from which a great number of Walt Disney Company's comic book characters held their origin....
after stealing money from him.
Fergus gets a wagon and eventually reaches Magica. After going through all of this, Howard decides to return to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In a last effort, she reminds him she's a woman and he probably wouldn't lay his hands on her. Fergus proves her wrong. She asks him why is that dime so special for him and he tells her how the McDucks love money and how her question makes him think she never met any McDucks before.
After that, Fergus meets Burt the ditchdigger and asks him a favor
Favor
Favor, Favour, or Favors, may refer to:* Favor , a deed in which help is voluntarily provided* Party favor, a small gift given to the guests at a party...
: he would ask Scrooge to shine his shoes and give the dime as payment
Payment
A payment is the transfer of wealth from one party to another. A payment is usually made in exchange for the provision of goods, services or both, or to fulfill a legal obligation....
. As Fergus (correctly) believes, Scrooge will feel 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 made a deal with Burt: she'll give two shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
s in exchange for the dime; he keeps one and gives the other one to Scrooge. Burt agrees and Magica is very happy (she forgot this "twist" will turn one of these shillings into Scrooge's first coin) until she accidentally drops the dime, which is found by an honest shoe-shine boy who gives 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 have to wait a little more than half an hour until being 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 schillings on a store next door, so Scrooge still hasn't earned any money. Magica laughs at how Scrooge will have to wait until he finally earns his first dime, until it finally makes her understand 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 went back to normal.
Back in present, Scrooge, still unaware of how Magica almost changed history, still thinks the history of how he earned his first dime isn't very interesting and, upon seeing his current situation, says he would like to thank the one responsible for him to have the dime. Hearing it from Mt. Vesuvius, Magica says: "Curse you. You're welcome."