Going For a Song Trivia Quiz

Answer: A remnant of Dead Sea scroll

One version of the story goes that a Bedouin goatherd was looking for a missing goat at Wadi Qumran during the 1940s and instead found jars containing scrolls in a cave. Over the next decade, more than 900 texts were found in twelve different caves. Of great religious and linguistic significance, these scrolls are around 2,000 years old and include 225 Biblical texts. Priceless.

A keffiyeh is a traditional Middle Eastern headdress.

Answer: Sunflowers

If this was an original, you would want to snap it up quick. While living in France, Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh (1853 -1890) produced his "Sunflowers" paintings in two series. The one shown comes from the Arles series. Van Gogh was a Victorian-era artist who, during one of his bouts of mental illness, cut off part of his left his ear. One of his self-portraits shows him with a bandaged head.

He died two days after being shot with a pistol. It is not clear whether the wound was self-inflicted.

Answer: United Kingdom

Known as the Penny Black, this is credited as being the world's first adhesive postage stamp and was issued in May 1840. Stamps from the UK are unusual in being the only ones in the world without the country's name on the stamp. The Queen's head is considered sufficient identification. The Penny Black stamp was soon replaced with the Penny Red stamp so that the cancellation mark could be seen on the stamp. Although not particularly rare, good examples are still valuable.

The 1920s-designed red telephone box, the 1960s blue police box (popularised by the British TV programme "Dr Who" where it masqueraded as the TARDIS time machine) and the currency on the stamp are all associated with the UK.

Answer: Outer Hebrides

These two pieces are from a collection of 78 12th century chess pieces discovered in sand dunes on the Isle of Lewis in 1831. The Isle of Lewis is part of the Outer Hebrides, a chain of islands lying off the west coast of Scotland. The collection is known as the Lewis Chessmen. Most of the pieces are carved from walrus ivory.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, artist and designer at the beginning of the 20th century. His designs, particularly those for his chairs, live on today. Tartan is a pattern, originally woven in wool, associated with Scotland.

Answer: George Washington

The Purple Heart is an American military medal given to those killed or wounded while serving in the US military. Unlike most medals, no recommendation is required and meeting the criteria results in the award being made. George Washington first introduced the award, then called the Badge of Military Merit, in 1782 but it soon fell into disuse. It was revived on the 200th anniversary of his birth and his profile became part of the medal's design. In World War II alone, it is estimated that over a million Purple Heart medals were awarded.

George Washington was first President of the United States and presided over the convention which drafted the US Constitution. He had problems with his teeth most of his adult life and used a variety of uncomfortable dentures made from such materials as ivory, gold and lead, but probably not wood as some stories would suggest. The story of Washington chopping down his father's favourite cherry tree comes from the 1800 book "The Life of Washington" by Parson Weems.

Answer: Boston Red Sox

Babe Ruth, the record-breaker referred to in the question, started his professional career with the Boston Red Sox where he helped them to three championships in five years. After his contract was sold to the New York Yankees in 1919, the Red Sox failed to win another World Series until 2004. By contrast, Ruth helped the Yankees become a dominant team in baseball, breaking many records on the way.

The three hints point to Boston. Paul Revere was a silversmith by trade although he took up dentistry at one point to make ends meet. He was also involved in the Boston Tea Party incident in 1773 when tea was dumped into Boston harbour as a protest. He is probably best known for his midnight ride to warn of the approach of British soldiers at the start of the American Revolution in 1775. The 1978 album was by the rock band Boston.

Answer: South Africa

The Krugerrand, taking its name from the Boer leader Paul Kruger, is a South African gold coin. Kruger's profile appears on one side of the coin with a springbok appearing on the reverse side. The coin contains one troy ounce of gold. The South African national rugby union team are known as the Springboks.

The other national rugby teams are the Pumas (Argentina), the Wallabies (Australia) and the All Blacks (New Zealand).

Answer: London

You have a few clues here. The names do not help particularly - the names are Italian in origin which does not point to any of these capital cities. The poem is in English although, since it was not published until 1916, this is possibly a red herring. Edward VII was a British king who ruled from 1901 to 1910 and so, on balance, London is the best choice. Finally, you might be able to read the word "London" on the brass label in the photograph.

Some research revealed that Negretti and Zambra went into partnership in London during 1850 with the business surviving about 150 years. Negretti was born in Como, Italy whilst Zambra was born in Saffron Walden, Essex, UK, although his father was Italian-born. They initially made their name as makers of meteorological instrument such as barometers. They were appointed opticians and scientific instrument makers to Edward VII, amongst others.

Answer: No, it is no longer legal tender.

The main clue in the question was the word 'obsolete'. Zimbabwe suffered from raging hyperinflation in the six years prior to the abandonment of the local currency in 2009. In the three years prior to abandonment, the dollar was re-denominated three times. The devaluation in 2008 saw 10,000,000 Zimbabwe dollars (ZWN) being exchanged for one new Zimbabwe dollar (ZWR). The final devaluation (in January 2009) made one dollar (ZWL) the equivalent of 1,000,000,000,000 of the ZWR dollars. Legalising the use of foreign currency in Zimbabwe stabilised the position.

So even if the billion dollar note in the photo was legal tender, you would not be able to exchange it for one US cent. On the other hand, as a collector's item, it may actually be worth something.

Answer: Song dynasty

This is a celadon vase typical of the Song dynasty (960-1279). It is possibly a Yaozhou vessel made in a Shanxi Province kiln during the Northern Song period. Snap it up! The other periods were Japanese (Tokugawa period), Indian (Vedic period) and Egyptian (Ptolemaic Kingdom).

As for the 'song' clues, the hit single from the album was called "Annie's Song" and 'that' expression was "Going For a Song", which means being sold very cheaply.