Spender's Game Trivia Quiz

Answer: Foolish - their intrinsic value is much greater than their face value

What I did was perfectly ok, in the sense that it's not illegal or fraudulent to spend older 50-cent pieces in Canada. It's a fairly stupid idea though, as Canadian half dollars minted during the 1950s are 80% silver! Like many countries, larger denomination Canadian coins were made with silver through much of the 20th century and are worth much more now than their face value. I would have been better off selling these coins to a dealer or even a pawn shop.

Oh, and one more thing: even though gold and silver coins tend to be famous for their intrinsic value, the same applies to many copper and nickel coins as well! For example, Canadian nickels were minted with nearly pure nickel until 1981, while American cents were minted with 95% copper through 1982. Both contain nickel or copper worth more than the face value of their coins.

Answer: It is in fact a legal tender issue

The Cook Islands are a small group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, and have officially been an associated state of New Zealand since 1965. Though New Zealand began using the New Zealand dollar in 1967, the Cook Islands got their own version, the Cook Islands dollar, starting in 1972. Despite not actually being a sovereign state (as recognized by the United Nations), the Cook Islands dollar is in fact legal tender, and is fixed in value to be exactly equal to the New Zealand dollar.

I bought that particular $50 coin for $35, its value in silver at the time. When I looked up its exchange rate, it turned out to be $42 (again, at the time). Despite my -- and the seller's -- instincts to value it for its weight in silver only, this was a reminder to me that yes, I should pay attention to the exchange value of the coin as well!

Answer: It would be redeemable, but for closer to $0.85

Trade dollars have a unique history among American coins. They contained a bit more silver than the usual silver dollars of the time, and were made specifically for trade and export to the Orient. When the price of silver declined, many returned to the United States, and Congress demonetized the coin in 1876.

Because it was demonetized, the trade dollar became redeemable only for its weight in silver, which at the time was well below its face value of one dollar, thus explaining the lower redemption rate. Some unscrupulous businesses would shortchange their workers by paying their full wages, but with trade dollars. The trade dollar was the only American money ever demonetized, though it was remonetized by the Coinage Act of 1965.

Answer: Accept the payment and report him for fraud

Counterfeiting and monetary fraud are not exactly unique ideas. One of the most famous examples of American counterfeiting occurred in 1883. That year, the design of the nickel was changed to a liberty head design with a V (indicating 5 cents) on the reverse. Some people plated them with gold and fraudulently passed them off as $5 gold coins (half eagles); it was quite a sum at the time.

The deaf, mute man was Josh Tatum, a man who supposedly made a fortune by creating and passing off these now-called "racketeer nickels" to people who mistook them for half eagles. He was tried in court and acquitted because being deaf and mute, he never actually claimed that they were half eagles. If it was me, I would've asked him, "But if so, why did you go through the trouble of getting them gilded?"

Answer: Swedish krona

Since its introduction in 1999, many European countries and their dependencies have switched over to the Euro. When a country switches over to a new currency, the money under its old system becomes obsolete and unspendable, though there is generally a grace period during which the old money can still be exchanged for the new. The Euro is of particular note for the number of countries which have switched over to it; even former reserve currencies like the German mark and French franc have been demonetized in its favor.

Sweden is one of the few members of the European Union that does not use the Euro. A referendum held in 2003 resulted in a vote to retain the krona, a decision which was acknowledged by the European Union and maintained by Sweden.

Answer: Decimalisation

The British still use pounds and pence, and yet pounds and pence from before 1971 are not legal tender due to Decimalisation (also known as Decimal Day). Before Decimal Day, the British monetary system consisted of an eclectic mix of farthings, pence, shillings, florins, crowns, and pounds. Though the names of the coins were retained, the scale of the exchange rates was decimalised, so that under the new system there are 100 pence to the pound. Previously, there were 240.

The difference in scaling is why old coins are no longer legal tender. They can however still be exchanged at the old rate if presented at banks in sufficient quantities.

Answer: The series it comes from was withdrawn in 2000

Not being a part of the European Union, Switzerland maintains its own currency, the franc. The Swiss franc is a reserve currency and is one of the world's more valuable currencies. The catch here is that Switzerland tends to issue and withdraw their franc banknote series every few decades or so. Swiss francs dated 1988 come from the sixth series issue of francs, which was withdrawn in 2000.

However, notes from this series are redeemable until 2020 if sent to the Swiss National Bank, which is what I ended up doing with that particular note.

Answer: Somalia uses the shilling, not the dollar

Browsing collectible coin lists, one can find many interesting Somalia-related coins: guitar coins, motorcycle coins, geometric coins, and so forth. They are neat novelties among coins, as nearly all modern coins are circular in shape. However, a bit of research reveals that Somalia's monetary unit is actually the shilling, and has been since its independence in 1960!

The supposedly-Somali novelty coins appear for sale because Somalia essentially does not have a government. Apparently, a private party is taking advantage of this fact to issue 'coins' in the name of Somalia, figuring that few people would notice the relatively arcane discrepancy and that nobody would attempt to stop them.

Answer: No - I should have just kept my American dollars

Hyperinflation is a relatively uncommon but well-known phenomenon in which a currency loses its real value very quickly. As recently as the 1980s, the Zimbabwean dollar was worth about as much as an American dollar. Zimbabwe suffered from hyperinflation in the 2000s, culminating in the issuing of a $100 trillion bill in 2008. Possessing a few of those can easily lead to quadrillionaire status, minus the fact that the money is worthless. It was a less-amusing situation to the so-called "starving billionaires" that had to actually deal with the effects of hyperinflation.

It turns out I should have simply kept my American dollars to begin with. The Zimbabwean dollar was demonetized and suspended indefinitely in 2009, at which point foreign currencies became legal tender in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean government actually uses American dollars as their official transaction currency, though other money like the Euro and South African rand are also accepted as currency there.

Answer: Nowhere at all

Browsing around, several bright and colorful Antarctica notes are up for sale. One is welcome to buy and sell them of course, it's just that they're not legal tender anywhere in the world. Some research into the bill indicates that it was printed by the Antarctica Overseas Exchange Office, a private company located in Washington (USA) that prints "official collectible pseudo currency."

While it may seem trivial to even entertain the idea of Antarctica banknotes, the same company prints sucre-denominated banknotes for the Galapagos Islands. Ecuador owns the Galapagos Islands and uses the sucre as its monetary unit, but does not issue special money for the Galapagos Islands. Such distinctions can get blurry over time, especially when considered in tandem with all the other quirks that come with spending money.