Quiz
Flash
Posts: 1,090 ✭✭✭
This quiz was published in the most recent Bowers & Merena newsletter. I thought it might be fun for those who haven't already seen it. NOTE: I have taken the liberty of changing some of the possible answers on a couple of the questions, because the ones B&M had were kinda stupid. 
My apology to Bowers & Merena.
Treasures are always exciting. Always have been. Always will be. And, in numismatics we are all front-row center when it comes to reading about and appreciating some of the world's greatest hoards and, in some instances, even buying specimens that have been discovered. In this issue we give clues to enable you to identify a few such treasures. If you get four right you are doing well, and if you get all five right you yourself are a treasure of knowledge! (Answers to be posted later)
In the 1990s quite a few thousand sparkling 1908 No Motto Saint-Gaudens $20 pieces reached the numismatic market, billed as the:
a. Wells Fargo Hoard.
b. Virgil Brand Estate Hoard.
c. Redfield Hoard.
d. Continental-Illinois National Bank Hoard.
Speaking of Virgil Brand, he did have a lot of numismatic treasures, including, for example, six of the 10 known 1884 trade dollars, etc., etc. -- actually, quite a few etceteras! Which of the following describes Virgil Brand's lifestyle?
a. He owned the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, lived on the top floor with a pet cougar, and enjoyed coming down to the dining room at dinner time to mingle with the guests, sometimes showing and explaining a rare coin.
b. In Reno, Nevada, he was a distributor of slot machines for the Mills Novelty Co., and also operated a famous casino. He had his bartenders, croupiers, and other employees keep on the lookout for rare coins, paying them a premium if they found something interesting. In the meantime, he bought a lot of rarities by mail from Henry Chapman, the Philadelphia dealer.
c. The owner of a Chicago brewery, he lived on the second floor in the 1920s and was seldom seen by visitors, although in an earlier era, before 1910, he had many numismatic guests. Theophile E. Leon was his "point man" and "runner," and often bid for him at sales.
d. As publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram he had his business office in the newspaper's building. Across the room from his desk was a walk-in safe, in which one might see super-rare Proof trade dollars (such as 1884), a complete set of $4 stellas of 1879-1880, bags of Mint State silver dollars, and more. Around his office were many shovels which he and his father (also a numismatist) had used in various ground-breaking ceremonies.
The Randall Hoard is well known today, but no one is aware of when it was hidden or by whom. According to numismatic tradition, it was discovered:
a. Beneath a railway platform in Georgia.
b. In a water tower by the sons of William Pinkerton, well known detective.
c. In a rusty old iron safe hidden in a tunnel near Richmond, Virginia.
d. In the burned-out ruins of an antebellum plantation at Bayou Teche, Louisiana.
If today you encounter on the market a lustrous, brilliant Mint State 1857-S double eagle, chances are virtually certain that it came from this long-lost sidewheel steamer, which disappeared at sea on September 12, 1857, 200 miles off the coast of North Carolina, while on its way, laden with treasure, from Aspinwall (in Panama), then to Havana, then in the open sea to New York City:
a. R.M.S. Republic.
b. S.S. Central America.
c. S.S. Arctic of the Collins Line.
d. S.S. Brother Jonathan.
These particular items had been moved into the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C., in 1911, and were put into storage. Now and again some of them would come to light to enchant numismatists, such as in 1938 when the ANA Convention was held in Washington, and some attendees bought a few at the Treasury, paying face value. Years later the cache would be revealed for what it was -- nearly three million numismatic delicacies, dominated by:
a. Several dozen cloth bags filled with Indian cents minted in the 1870s.
b. New Orleans Mint silver dollars, including the prized 1903-O Morgan.
c. Nearly the entire mintage of 1901-P Type 3 $20 Liberty gold coins.
d. Carson City silver dollars, Mint State, dated 1882-CC, 1883-CC, and 1884-CC.
My apology to Bowers & Merena.Treasures are always exciting. Always have been. Always will be. And, in numismatics we are all front-row center when it comes to reading about and appreciating some of the world's greatest hoards and, in some instances, even buying specimens that have been discovered. In this issue we give clues to enable you to identify a few such treasures. If you get four right you are doing well, and if you get all five right you yourself are a treasure of knowledge! (Answers to be posted later)
In the 1990s quite a few thousand sparkling 1908 No Motto Saint-Gaudens $20 pieces reached the numismatic market, billed as the:
a. Wells Fargo Hoard.
b. Virgil Brand Estate Hoard.
c. Redfield Hoard.
d. Continental-Illinois National Bank Hoard.
Speaking of Virgil Brand, he did have a lot of numismatic treasures, including, for example, six of the 10 known 1884 trade dollars, etc., etc. -- actually, quite a few etceteras! Which of the following describes Virgil Brand's lifestyle?
a. He owned the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, lived on the top floor with a pet cougar, and enjoyed coming down to the dining room at dinner time to mingle with the guests, sometimes showing and explaining a rare coin.
b. In Reno, Nevada, he was a distributor of slot machines for the Mills Novelty Co., and also operated a famous casino. He had his bartenders, croupiers, and other employees keep on the lookout for rare coins, paying them a premium if they found something interesting. In the meantime, he bought a lot of rarities by mail from Henry Chapman, the Philadelphia dealer.
c. The owner of a Chicago brewery, he lived on the second floor in the 1920s and was seldom seen by visitors, although in an earlier era, before 1910, he had many numismatic guests. Theophile E. Leon was his "point man" and "runner," and often bid for him at sales.
d. As publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram he had his business office in the newspaper's building. Across the room from his desk was a walk-in safe, in which one might see super-rare Proof trade dollars (such as 1884), a complete set of $4 stellas of 1879-1880, bags of Mint State silver dollars, and more. Around his office were many shovels which he and his father (also a numismatist) had used in various ground-breaking ceremonies.
The Randall Hoard is well known today, but no one is aware of when it was hidden or by whom. According to numismatic tradition, it was discovered:
a. Beneath a railway platform in Georgia.
b. In a water tower by the sons of William Pinkerton, well known detective.
c. In a rusty old iron safe hidden in a tunnel near Richmond, Virginia.
d. In the burned-out ruins of an antebellum plantation at Bayou Teche, Louisiana.
If today you encounter on the market a lustrous, brilliant Mint State 1857-S double eagle, chances are virtually certain that it came from this long-lost sidewheel steamer, which disappeared at sea on September 12, 1857, 200 miles off the coast of North Carolina, while on its way, laden with treasure, from Aspinwall (in Panama), then to Havana, then in the open sea to New York City:
a. R.M.S. Republic.
b. S.S. Central America.
c. S.S. Arctic of the Collins Line.
d. S.S. Brother Jonathan.
These particular items had been moved into the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C., in 1911, and were put into storage. Now and again some of them would come to light to enchant numismatists, such as in 1938 when the ANA Convention was held in Washington, and some attendees bought a few at the Treasury, paying face value. Years later the cache would be revealed for what it was -- nearly three million numismatic delicacies, dominated by:
a. Several dozen cloth bags filled with Indian cents minted in the 1870s.
b. New Orleans Mint silver dollars, including the prized 1903-O Morgan.
c. Nearly the entire mintage of 1901-P Type 3 $20 Liberty gold coins.
d. Carson City silver dollars, Mint State, dated 1882-CC, 1883-CC, and 1884-CC.
Matt
0
Comments
1. a
2. b
3. a
4. b
5. c
Re-elect Bush in 2004... Dont let the Socialists brainwash you.
Bush 2004
Jeb 2008
KK 2016
2 B
3 C
4 B
5 D
Registry 1909-1958 Proof Lincolns
2-C
3-A
4-B
5-D
DAN
My first tassa slap 3/3/04
My shiny cents
d
c
b
d
2) C
3) A
4) B
5) D
Correct answers will be posted tommorrow morning.
1) A
2) D
3) D
4) B
5) B
1 out of 5 ain't bad (right?
My posts viewed
since 8/1/6
2) C
3) A
4) B
5) D
5 out of 5, what do I win?
I don't know the one about the Randall Hoard, but the rest I know. I did learn a bit about Brand, since I remembered only his occupation - the rest of that was new to me.
Good one, Flash, all the answers were plausible.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
2. c
3. a
4. b
5. d
The correct answers are A, C, A, B, D.
Some of the original choices in the Bowers & Merena newsletter were so silly as to be implausible. For instance, one of the choices for the wrecked ship was the HMS Pinafore. The Randall Hoard was discovered by the Hardy Boys, and the coins moved to the Treasury Building in 1911 was the entire mintage of 1946 proof sets.
If anybody else can come up with some good little quizzes, please post them. I think they're fun.