Tonight's final Jeopardy answer - The only US coin or bill with the private residence of a President on the reverse. Responses: "What is the $5 bill?" "What is the "$500 bill?" And the new champion - "What is the Nickle?" I'm sorry, but that level of ignorance by two supposedly educated, intelligent people, is simply unforgivable! I guess it does demonstrate that the average American doesn't look at his/her pocket change.
I wouldn't say that makes someone ignorant. I'm sure those contestants all have areas of interest that you would probably know nothing about, and that would not make you ignorant. Quite frankly, the only value to even knowing the answer is trivial.
Apparently you don't know the meaning of the word "ignorant", which is "lacking knowledge". Yes, I'm ignorant about many things, but I don't have to be a numismatist to observe things I handle every day.
Regardless of denotation, we all know the negative connotations of the word. You could observe things you handle everyday, and even describe them in detail and still lack the knowledge of what exactly it was you were looking at. I would venture to say that most people, even highly intelligent ones don't bother to research every design aspect of the money that they handle daily. And why should they?
I`d be willing to bet that 50% of Americans don`t even know who`s on a 100 or even a 20 dollar bill. I have seen interviews with people in their 20s who did not even know who the vice president is......Uh what`s His name there......
I was quizzing my friends the other day for kicks, they were vehemently contending that Andrew Jackson's visage was on the $2.00 bill, not the $20.00!
Lol.....I can see how they might come to that notion, as Jefferson would seem to be more popular than Jackson. Heck.....there`s a lot of people that don`t even know that the $2 bills are even legal tender. : )
I wouldn't blame them for that, the VP candidate that lost is more popular and well known than the one that won.
People on Jeopardy are usually smarter (or perhaps better prepared to answer questions) than the average American. In the general population, knowledge of currency/coins will decrease as we continue to use electronic means to pay. TC
For sure , I may collect coins and currency but I never use cash. It's always my credit card because it will not charge me the 65 cents my debit card does and it will not result in someone handing me a lump of change containing : a toonie , looonie , quarter , nickle, dime and tree cents weighing a total of a small infant child in my front pocket.
I think some things are not about areas of interest, but general culture. There are things everybody should know to be able to talk about general subjects with people. I hope you get the idea, my english is not good.
Everybody has pockets of exceptional knowledge because of their individual occupations and interests. I can tell you the composition and weight (in troy and metric measurements) of every coin the US ever made, but I have no clue who is currently the best at hurling whatever ball through whichever apparatus.
Slight typo/spelling error but it's fairly clear ... The first 90% silver coin to be produced by the United States Mint since 1964 ... See: http://moderncommemoratives.com/1982-george-washington-half-dollar/ Glyn, Tokyo
I said the nickel, but it was really a guess. I know nothing of the new nickels. I thought it might have been a trick question. I'm usually pretty good answering the questions on Jeopardy. I know that if I was to be on the show, they'd have categories about Shakespeare and poetry. I'd probably never make it to Final Jeopardy.
So, you find it "unforgivable" that the average American doesn't look at his/her pocket change? If so, while I will forgive you, I find your attitude to be extremely harsh. By the way, I don't look at my pocket change.
