The quiz was in progress when cointalk took its summer vacation but had been posted for a while. Members had answered 2-1, 2-2 and 2-4 correctly. Answers to all are below. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cal’s Coin Trivia Quiz #2. Try to answer from your mind or paper sources first before asking Prof. Google. 2-1. Name a U.S. coin that did not have “UNITED STATES” inscribed on it. 2-2. What is the heaviest coin produced in a U.S. mint prior to the recent 5 oz coins? 2-3. What U.S. sculptor, who was never a mint employee, designed a sitting liberty U.S. coin? 2-4. What was the first U.S. coin designed by a woman? 2-5. What is the largest diameter coin produced in a U.S. mint prior to the recent 5 oz coins? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Answers: 2-1. Some quarter, half and one dollar pattern coins in the “standard” series of 1870 lack the name of the country. They had a sitting liberty or sitting Indian princess obverse design and either a wreath or eagle on the reverse. These weren’t the first “no country” U.S. patterns though. Some of Anthony Paquet’s liberty seated half dollar patterns of 1859 didn’t mention the country. There are other later patterns without United States on them. None of these coins were adopted for large scale minting. 2-2. 1915-S Pan Pac gold $50 coins weigh in at a beefy 83.6 g. Want one? Often in auctions … going for about $100K. Diameter of the circular coin is 43 mm; that of the octagonal is 46 mm. Two gold $50 patterns, J-1546 and J-1548, also weigh 83.6 g. Want one? Sorry, the only existing coins are in the Smithsonian. 2-3. Joseph A. Bailly designed the Judd-1315 1873 trade dollar pattern which featured a sitting liberty motif on the obverse. His design was on 20-cent patterns as well. However, William Barber’s sitting liberty design was chosen for production minting. Among other sculptures, Bailly created a marble statue of George Washington for Independence Hall. It has since been moved to Philadelphia City Hall and replaced with a bronze replica. A pic of Bailly’s design is below: 2-4. Laura Gardin Fraser designed the 1921 Alabama Centennial commemorative half dollar. 2-5. 1877 $50 gold patterns (J-1546 and J-1548) bulge at 51 mm. Their copper counterparts (J-1547 and J-1549) are the same. The two gold coins weigh 83.6 g; that of copper coins is less. The only two J-1546 and J-1548 that exist are in the Smithsonian. A pic of J-1546 is below: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Some definitions applicable to the quiz: A coin is a cast, milled or struck metal, glass or plastic object that, within approximate limits, is a cylinder (including elliptical) or right polyhedron, has a design or inscription, and was created by a government as a medium of exchange or has a monetary value inscribed. The object must have a width significantly greater than thickness but may be bowed or have a hole in the center. Objects having the foregoing physical characteristics, created under authority of a noble, company or military organization, and widely used as a medium of exchange are also coins. Counterfeits are not coins unless later accepted by governmental or military authorities to be one as described above. Paper, plastic or other fabric currency, stamps, checks, and bonds are not coins even if encased in metal, glass or other hard substance. Objects found in nature, like shells, rocks, gems, and wood, even if carved, stamped, milled, inscribed or otherwise altered, are not coins. Native metals are an exception if processed into a coin as described above. Error coins and one-sided test strikes may not be used as answers. “U.S.” means United States … the country that began 4 Mar 1789 when the Constitution took effect. “U.S. coin” means a coin minted in a U.S. mint, said mint under the authority of the U.S. Government … colonial, Confederation, Confederate, territorial, private, assay office, etc. don’t count. Objects produced by U.S. mints and designated by the U.S. government as medals are not U.S. coins. Coins produced by U.S. mints for U.S. territories or protectorates, or for foreign governments are not U.S. coins.
Nice quiz and even nicer definition of coin Its damn hard to define some things... Regarding your definition of coin, the first Polish encyclopedia immediately came to mind. There was definition of horse: Horse: Everyone can see what a horse is. The Polish encyclopedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowe_Ateny
