"Dennis the Menace" was a half-hour television program which ran on the CBS Television Network from 1959 to 1963. The program was based on the popular comic strip written by Hank Ketcham which ran from 1951 to 1994. Dennis Mitchell is a mischievous little boy living with his parents. Mr. and Mrs Wilson are a middle-aged childless couple living next door. Dennis is always pestering Mister Wilson who doesn't want him around. The episodes starred Jay North as Dennis Mitchell, Joseph Kearns as Mister (George) Wilson, Gloria Henry as Alice Mitchell, Herbert Anderson as Henry Mitchell, and Sylvia Field as Mrs. Wilson. Several episodes of the program deal with and show various United States coins and coin collecting supplies as Mister Wilson is a dedicated coin collector or numismatist whose main interest is collecting United States coins. He keeps and shows his coins in a specially made suitcase with trays. Dennis sometimes becomes involved with Mister Wilson's coin activities. Mr. Wilson sometimes uses a book which is the "Red Book", a well-known coin book. The "Red Book" is A Guide Book of United States Coins, by R. S. Yeoman (Author), Kenneth Bressett (Editor), published yearly since 1947, now by Krause Publications. The book has a red cover, hence the name.

This episode is titled "The Lucky Piece" and was first broadcast on December 17, 1961. Mr. Wilson accidently tries to pass a "Good Luck" coin as a half dollar.

Dennis' father tells him that he will have to pay $2.00 to fix a window that he broke. Dennis heads to the Wilson house to offer to do a job. Mrs. Wilson offers him a half dollar to cut the grass.

Mr. Wilson accidently tries to pass a "Good Luck" coin as a half dollar. These coins were usually 32 mm in diameter, slightly larger than half dollars at 31 mm.

The coin has a face on one side. The other side has a horseshoe and the inscription "GOOD LUCK."

Mr. Wilson convinces Dennis to take the coin instead of the half dollar for cutting the grass. Mrs. Wilson is ashamed of what her husband has done and decides to make Dennis "Lucky" by secretly passing a dollar bill to him.

The bill is a real United States dollar and not the stage money in the previous episode. Mrs. Wilson contacts Dennis' mother and they plan other lucky events for Dennis; he finds a scout knife and his large missing pet frog returns. Mr. Wilson begins to believe that the coin really has good luck and decides to buy it back.

By now both parents are aware of the scheme and await Mr. Wilson.

Dennis' father and Mr. Wilson engage in bidding the price up to five dollars. Mr. Wilson gets the coin, his wife informs him of the scheme, he laughs it off, and throws the coin into the street, where a passing hobo finds it.

The hobo then finds an expensive item which just fell off a truck. Mr. Wilson decides that the coin is lucky and runs after the hobo to buy it back again.

Jay North as Dennis Mitchell
Herbert Anderson as Henry Mitchell
Gloria Henry as Alice Mitchell
Joseph Kearns as George Wilson
Sylvia Field as Martha Wilson
Billy Booth as Tommy Anderson
Henry Beckman as Clerk
David Bond as Hobo
Director: Charles Barton
Writers: Keith Fowler, Phil Leslie