As described in a film magazine review,[4] Mary, a waitress, is sublimely happy in her love for sailor Steve, a jolly young star who surprises even himself when he marries the young Mary. Steve's old girl Cassie Lang, a patron of Ma Tapman's questionable hotel, is heartbroken and, upon her release from prison, goads Steve into gambling on whether or not he will take her to sea with him. Cassie wins, and Steve sails away the next day without a word to Mary. Mary is distraught by this and wants to die. She finds twenty cents on the pier and uses it to buy a rose for her hair. Then she is injured before she can take her own life and ends up in a hospital. There she meets Cassie who, on her deathbed, explains that she used false dimes for her wager with Steve and never sailed with him. Mary is jubilant on the return of Steve.
^"God Gave Me Twenty Cents". The Film Daily. 38 (49). New York City: Wid's Films and Film Folks, Inc.: 12 November 28, 1926. Retrieved December 26, 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.