BrianRxm Coins on Television 18/88
Dennis the Menace - A Quiet Evening (1962)
Mister Wilson shows Dennis a supposed 1919-D Mercury dime
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"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 "A Quiet Evening" and was first broadcast on February 25, 1962.
 
Mr. Wilson is asked by the Mitchells to come to their house and watch Dennis. He brings over some coins and shows them to Dennis and some other children.
 
Dennis the Menace
1. Mr. Wilson at home
Mr. Wilson plans to spend a quiet evening at home working on his coin collection. His special coin suitcase is evident, as is a coin book, possibly a "Red Book."
 
Mrs. Wilson receives a phone call from Dennis' mother asking for someone to watch Dennis and volunteers her husband.
 
Mr. Wilson arrives at the Mitchell house next door, and finds two other children, Margaret, a stuffy playmate of Dennis, and Seymour, a smaller "Dennis in training."
 
Dennis the Menace
2. Mr. Wilson at Dennis' house
Mr. Wilson has brought his coin suitcase but is soon joined by the kids.
 
Dennis the Menace
3. Mr. Wilson shows a coin
The coin is supposedly a 1919-D dime worth $100.
 
Dennis the Menace
4. Margaret examines the coin
She asks what's so special about the coin.
 
Earlier Dennis had suggested playing "spacemen" but Margaret told him "Girls aren't interested in going to the moon." Apparently not in coins either.
 
Dennis the Menace
5. The dime
The dime shown is actually a 1913 Barber dime.
 
The kids want some candy and head downtown to get some. Seymour grabs Wilson's dime and spends it in a vending machine. Mr. Wilson tries to recover the dime from the machine.
 
Dennis the Menace
6. Mr. Wilson working on the vending machine
He is soon joined by a police officer who asks him what he is doing.
 
Dennis the Menace
7. Mr Wilson busted
The policeman takes Mr. Wilson to the station.
 
Dennis the Menace
8. Third degree
Mr. Wilson is suspected of being a career criminal but is finally let go. The police give him back his items but tell him the dime went into their vending machine. Mr. Wilson buys the machine and takes it home.
 
Dennis the Menace
9. Dennis and Mr. Wilson's new home vending machine
Cast, Directors, Writers:
 
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
 
John Astin as Policeman
Charles Fredericks as Sergeant
Jeannie Russell as Margaret Wade
 
Director: Charles Barton
Writers: Budd Grossman
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