For example, a 1798 dime is much rarer than a 1916 dime, but the 25 sells for significantly more, simply because many more people collect early 20th century dimes than dimes from the 1700s.
答案：(C) latter
【句型】the latter 固定用法「後者」，指前面提到的兩者（1798 dime和1916 dime）中後面提到的那個，即1916 dime；older（較舊的）、better（較好的）、bigger（較大的）都不合這個指代用法。
latter 與 later 長得太像，你很可能把它讀成「較晚的」，再想「1916 比 1798 晚，那沒錯啊」——但選項給的是 latter，不是 later，兩個字的意思完全不同。也可能因為前半句在比稀有度，就順手挑了 older。
the latter 意思是「後者」，指的是前面剛提過的兩個東西當中，後面提到的那一個，與它成對的是 the former（前者）。這是指代用法，跟時間早晚無關——決定誰是「後者」的是它在句子裡出現的先後順序，不是它本身的年代。回頭數一次：前半句依序提到 a 1798 dime、a 1916 dime，後者就是 1916 dime。再用後半句驗算：simply because many more people collect early 20th century dimes than dimes from the 1700s（因為收集二十世紀初一角硬幣的人，遠多於收集十八世紀的）。1916 年正屬於二十世紀初，正是被較多人收集、因此賣得較貴的那一枚，驗算完全吻合。順帶把兩個字分清楚：latter 是「兩者中的後者」，later 是「較晚、後來」，拼字只差一個字母，用法完全不同。
older（較舊的）：1798 年那一枚才比較舊，但句子說賣得比較貴的是另一枚，代進去與後半句的解釋直接矛盾。better（較好的）：文章沒有比較兩枚硬幣的好壞或品相。bigger（較大的）：兩枚都是 dime（一角硬幣），大小相同，也與整段的主題無關。
the former... the latter（前者…後者）、the latter half of（…的後半）、command a high price（賣得高價）、be popular with（受…歡迎）、significantly more（明顯更多）、sooner or later（遲早）。
For coin collectors who invest money in coins, the value of a coin is determined by various factors. First, scarcity is a major determinant. 21 a coin is, the more it is worth. Note, however, that rarity has little to do with the 22 of a coin. Many thousand-year-old coins often sell for no more than a few dollars because there are a lot of them around, 23 a 1913 Liberty Head Nickel may sell for over one million US dollars because there are only five in existence.
Furthermore, the demand for a particular coin will also 24 influence coin values. Some coins may command higher prices because they are more popular with collectors. For example, a 1798 dime is much rarer than a 1916 dime, but the 25 sells for significantly more, simply because many more people collect early 20th century dimes than dimes from the 1700s.