An ordinary dime

This dime was made in 1966. I found it today after getting some change for a soda. Now a '66 coin is not antique by any means, and on any other day I would have just tossed it in with all the other change that's accumulating on my dresser. But today I was thinking about graduating, preparing for a new job, worrying about money, and otherwise focusing on the future. I saw this 1966 dime and started wondering about all the people who had held it before me and what they bought with it.

After two decades of my grandparents telling me how expensive things were these days, i was expecting to find that you could do all sorts of things with a dime in 1966. After accounting for price inflation, it turns out that ten cents in 1966 is about the same as 57 cents today. Whoopteedoo. Fifty-seven cents. I can't even get a soda for 57 cents anymore. I'm so let down by my visions of 10 cent movies and cars that could drive forever on a dollar's worth of gas.

The really odd thing is that this dime, that has been all over the place and has a rich history that we can only guess at, is worth ten cents, but a pristine dime from the same year that has never been held by human hands is worth ten dollars. Well, maybe this dime had an interesting history. It could have been used to buy a ride on a ferris wheel or play a carnival game, who knows. I hope it was something cool. There's no "Where's Franklin" site like there is for George so I guess I'll never know. Maybe I'll take a dozen of this dime's buddies and buy another soda.