KATHLEEN TIEWS, ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA.

This is a perfect example of how Congress takes public credit for doing something noble, then brushes off the people who were dumb enough to trust it. The National Science Scholars program started in 1991. Smarties like your daughter competed for this money and–on paper–were supposed to get up to $5,000 a year.

But as you found out, Congress never appropriated as much as promised. The program’s fine print said the awards were based on available funding. In governmentese, that meant that Congress could grant as little as it wanted.

The 1994 law wiping out the National Science Scholars was called (are you ready?) the Improving America’s Schools Act. Congress blew off some 2,500 students who had counted on four years of college aid. The honorable course would have been to fund the scholars already in the program, even if taking no one new. But no. Its $4.4 million was sacrificed to balance the budget.

Not everyone will be sacrificed, of course. Congress plans to overrun this year’s defense budget by $3.7 billion (aiding contractors in the districts of Republican biggies) and the transportation budget by $27 billion (enough roads, bike lanes and bridges to get almost every legislator re-elected). Your daughter should have been a highway. She’d get more respect.

QUESTION: I’m a beginning coin collector with a collection of silver dimes–one for each year from 1940 to 1964. Where do I find prospective buyers? Should I sell each coin separately or as a set?

NAME WITHHELD

I have an awful feeling that I’m going to disappoint you. Most circulated silver dimes have no special collector’s value. They’re worth only their silver content. Numismatist Howard Weinberg of the New York shop Coin Dealer would pay 25 cents apiece, whether you sold them separately or all at once. You can check other dealers by picking up the magazine Coin Age from a newsstand or calling local shops.

If you got lucky, the date on your 1941 dime might have 1942 stamped over it, showing both the 1 and the 2. That coin is worth at least $100. Otherwise, numismatic value lies in brilliant uncirculated coins–right off the press and never used. A 1941-45 group might bring $75, and a 1946-64 group $65, with a bonus for special mint marks, Weinberg says. If you’re interested in collecting, get a book from the library to see what it takes.

QUESTION: I’m a 77-year-old widow who bought a $25,000 ““vanishing premium’’ life-insurance policy in 1986 from Long Island Savings Bank in Melville, N.Y. I was told that after nine years I’d no longer have to pay annual premiums. To my dismay, I’m still getting yearly bills for $1,176.75. The policy is for my children, but I live on a limited income, and the payments are a burden. Should I keep it? Is there an alternative?

M.G., FLUSHING, N.Y.

If you want to leave extra money to your children, keep the policy, advises the Consumer Federation of America’s actuary, James Hunt. You’ve paid the acquisition costs and are getting a decent return on your cash value. Maybe your children will help with the cost, since they’ll get the benefit. Alternatively, you could convert to a smaller paid-up policy and owe no more premiums ever.

Why didn’t your premium vanish on schedule? Blame falling interest rates. The bank credited less interest than expected to your policy’s cash value, so you effectively have to make up the difference. This risk was disclosed at the bottom of your policy illustration, but it’s not the sort of thing people read–let alone understand–unless the agent shines a flashlight on it. Not too many agents carry flashlights, and you sure were left in the dark.

Still, you and others like you have to play the hand you’ve got. Hunt has analyzed hundreds of whole-life policies like these and says they’re almost always worth keeping, if you can afford it.

QUESTION: We have education accounts for my children, recorded in my name but with titles like ““Lindsay’s Education Account.’’ I put the money in my name so that I could maintain control. For tax purposes, I have been treating the earnings as ““nominee income’’ and reporting it on the kids’ returns. My question: if they don’t use all the money for college, will that income be credited back to me, along with late taxes and penalties?

R.S., ASHTON, MD.

You didn’t ask to be identified by just your initials, but when you read this answer, you’ll know why I did it. The interest on these accounts isn’t “’nominee income’’ (which is another deal entirely). It’s your income and always has been. As long as you control the money, the earnings are taxable to you–““Lindsay’s account’’ or no. Tom Ochsenschlager of the accounting firm Grant Thornton urges you to turn yourself in by filing amended returns for at least the past three years. You’ll owe interest on your late tax payments, but voluntary confessions are often received gratefully and without penalties.

Send your questions to Jane Bryant Quinn, NEWSWEEK Focus: On Your Money, 251 West 57th St., New York, NY 10019. Letters can be answered only in the column.