The 1963 film "Dime With a Halo" is a film about five boys living in Tijuana, Mexico, who contribute money to purchase a two-dollar bet on a horse race each week. One week they steal a dime from a church collection box and dedicate the dime and it's profits, if any, to Jesus. This time the bet pays off but the boys have a hard time collecting the money. A United States 1929 Winged Liberty or "Mercury" dime obverse is shown as part of the film's title, and is also shown when it is being taken out of the collection box.

The film title is first shown as a circle halo only.

Then the obverse of a 1929 Mercury dime appears.

The dime now appears over a Los Angeles street.

They are officially known as Winged Liberty Head dimes but are nicknamed "Mercury" dimes because the design resembles images of the Roman god Mercury. These dimes were minted from 1916 to 1945.

The Los Angeles street appears without the dime.

Juanita, a very attractive Mexican-American young woman, about 17 years old, gets a permit to dance in a Tijuana Mexico nightclub. She brings her younger 10-year old brother Jose with her.

The church priest tells the parishioners not to gamble while two members mark their betting slips.

The bets are to be placed at the Tijuana Caliente Racetrack where the "5-10" bet is a bet on six horses to win six races. The payoff on a winning ticket can be as high as $100,000. While Juanita dances at the club Jose is left by himself.

Jose meets a local boy Chuy who is surprised that Jose does not speak Spanish. Chuy has seen Jose's sister and decides that Jose can join his group of Mexican boys. Each Sunday the five boys pool their earnings from selling items on the street to buy a two-dollar "5-10" ticket.

Left to right Cesar, Domingo, Rafael, Jose, and Chuy. The actual placing of the bet is done by a wealthy American, Mr. Jones, as the boys are too young to place bets at the racetrack.

Mr. Jones drives a fancy Cadillac car down to Tijuana each week to visit the racetrack and the dance clubs. He sees Juanita dance and gives her a business card.

After watching Juanita's performance, Mr. Jones drives the boys to the Caliente Racetrack.

The racetrack used in the film is actually San Diego's Del Mar Racetrack. The boys return home after their ticket loses again. Jose goes to visit Juanita but she is busy.

Chuy takes the boys to the church and suggests that, as the priest advised, they become partners with Jesus. Chuy uses a knife and some gum to extract a dime from the church collection box.

The dime appear to be a worn Mercury dime.

Chuy promises to share any winnings with Jesus. That Sunday afternoon Mr. Jones arrives to visit the racetrack and the boys join him.

Mr. Jones places the bet while the boys wait outside. This time the ticket is a winner with a payoff of $81,000. The boys need Mr. Jones to collect the money and they look for Mr. Jones' car but it is gone. The boys head home and discuss what they plan to do with the money.

Chuy has the boys swear an oath not to tell anyone about the ticket as they do not trust adults (except for Mr. Jones). Each Sunday they visit the racetrack but Mr. Jones does not appear. Jose, an American citizen, goes to the nearby town of Ensenada and visits the American Consul to ask him how to redeem the ticket.

The consul tells Jose that the money would have to be put into a bank. Chuy hits Jose for violating the oath but then realizes the problem. Chuy finds a fedora hat, and believing that it makes him look older, takes the ticket to a racetrack cashier.

The cashier sees that the ticket is good but tries to keep it. Chuy grabs the ticket and runs away followed by the cashier. The cashier sees the other four boys running and later tells a newspaper that the winning ticket is held by five Tijuana boys. Jose tells Juanita about the ticket and she tries to get it from Chuy. Juanita then finds Mr. Jones' business card and telephones him. Mr. Jones tells her that he has been sick but will drive to Tijuana on Sunday to collect the money for the boys. On Sunday Mr. Jones takes the boys and Juanita to the racetrack and goes inside to cash the ticket but has a heart attack and dies. The boys wait in the parking lot and after a while all of the cars have left except Mr. Jones' car. A Mexican policeman and the American consul drive up.

The consul searches Mr. Jones' briefcase and finds no ticket. The boys then search the empty racetrack but still can not find the ticket.

The four Mexican boys are back in Tijuana and resume their previous activities. Juanita and Jose drive up and tell the boys that they are going back to Los Angeles.

Barbara Luna as Juanita
Paul Langton as Mr. Jones
Roger Mobley as Jose
Rafael López as Chuy Perez
Larry Domasin as Cesar
Tony Maxwell as Domingo
Manuel Padilla Jr. as Rafael
Vito Scotti as Doorman
Robert Carricart as Cashier
Theodore Newton as Consul Glenson
Director: Boris Sagal
Writers: Hans Wilhelm, László Vadnay