A Pocketful of History Quiz | European

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. One of the first commemorative coins was issued in 1973. It is a 50 pence piece showing nine hands clasped in a circle. What event did this commemorate?

Answer: Britain joining the Common Market (EEC)

The European Economic Community or EEC for short (which has evolved into the European Union) came into being in 1957. Twice before - in 1963 and 1967 British applications to join the EEC had been vetoed by France under Charles de Gaulle. However in 1973, after de Gaulle's death, Prime Minister Edward Heath announced that we were in.

The nine hands represented the number of countries in the Union at that time. Before Britain joined on the 1st January 1973 along with Ireland and Denmark, there had been six - France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

2. Although commemorative �2 coins had been issued since 1986, the first to be released for general circulation did not appear until 1996. A bi-metallic coin, the first since 1692, it met with general approval. On the edge was the inscription, 'Standing on the shoulders of giants'. To whom is this saying attributed?

Answer: Sir Isaac Newton

This inspirational statement, later to become the title of an album by Oasis, was written by Sir Isaac Newton in a response to a comment on his brilliant work by Robert Hooke. "If I have seen further," he wrote, "it is by standing on the shoulders of giants," acknowledging the debt he owed in his discoveries to the work of scientists who had gone before him.

3. In 2003 a �2 coin bearing the DNA double helix celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the discovery of the structure of DNA by Crick and Watson. In which university did they make their groundbreaking discovery?

Answer: Cambridge

On the edge of the coin, the inscription is Deoxyribonucleic acid followed by a side view of the double helix.

4. A railway locomotive was depicted on the reverse of a �2 coin issued in 2004. Which engineer was this coin commemorating?

Answer: Richard Trevithick

Although the other engineers mentioned were involved with steam engines - Watt with his discovery of steam power, Stephenson with his 'Rocket' and Isambard Kingdom Brunel with the Great Western Railway, it was Trevithick for whom the coin was minted. Born near Redruth in Cornwall in 1771, he invented a high pressure steam engine, and is commonly regarded as the inventor of the steam locomotive for railways.

5. A fifty pence coin celebrating 50 years of the National Health Service in Britain depicts sunrays held in caring hands. Around the edge of the coin are the initials NHS. In which year was this coin issued?

Answer: 1998

The National Health Service was established in Britain under the auspices of Aneurin Bevan in the post-war Labour government in 1948. (It was on the eve of the launching of the NHS that Bevan publicly described the Tories as 'lower than vermin'). Although it is much maligned and has its problems, the system was a godsend at the time for poorer families who were frequently unable to afford medical care.

Although 5 million of these coins were minted, they are rarely found in general circulation.

6. Guglielmo Marconi was another scientist whose work was celebrated on the �2 coin. In 2001 an issue represented the first transatlantic wireless transmission. Signals were sent from Marconi's station in Poldhu in Cornwall, and received by Marconi - but where?

Answer: Newfoundland

The reception of the signals in December 1901 proved Marconi's theory that radio waves were unaffected by the curvature of the earth.

7. A fifty pence coin issued in 2000 celebrates 150 years of which public institution?

Answer: Public Libraries

The coin shows, on the reverse, an open book above a pillared building. It celebrates 150 years since the Public Libraries Act of 1850. There had been a handful of public libraries before that - the first being that at St Mary's Church in Reigate, opened in 1701, but there was no statutory provision for these. Two Liberal MPs, William Ewart and Joseph Brotherton, campaigned hard for this bill in the face of strong opposition from Conservatives who argued that although middle and upper class people would be paying for them, it would be working class people who used them. One MP, arguing in favour, said that it was easier to manage people who didn't know too much! The law was only applicable in boroughs of more than 10,000 people, but it was a good start.

8. In 2005, the 400th anniversary of an event, remembered annually in Britain, was commemorated with a special minting of the �2 coin. It depicts maces, crooks and swords arranged in a circular pattern with stars surrounding this. What is the inscription on the edge of the coin?

Answer: Remember, remember the fifth of November

The Gunpowder Plot which aimed to blow up the Houses of Parliament and King James I with it, was foiled in 1605. Although the main conspirator was Robert Catesby, the man caught in the act was Guido Fawkes (better known as Guy) whose name lives on with the 'Guys' that are ceremonially burned on celebratory bonfires each year on November 5th. The words around the edge come from the rhyme,
"Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot."

9. A fifty pence piece showing the legs of a runner and a stopwatch was issued in 2004. Which record breaking event was commemorated?

Answer: First sub four minute mile

Sir Roger Bannister, later a respected neurologist, achieved the long awaited goal of the first sub four minute mile in a race held in Oxford in 1954. With the sterling support of pacemakers Christopher Brasher and Chris Chataway, Bannister broke what was thought to be an insurmountable barrier.

The announcer for the race was Norris McWhirter, who later went on to establish the 'Guinness Book of World Records' with his twin brother, Ross.

10. In 2006 two fifty pence coins were issued to commemorate 150 years since the first Victoria Cross was awarded. This, the highest of all British military honours, was first awarded to a member of which of these?

Answer: The Navy

The honour was awarded to Mate Charles Lucas from County Monaghan. He was serving aboard HMS Hecla in action off the Russian fortress of Bomarsund when a live shell, obviously about to explode, landed on the deck. He picked it up and threw it over the side where it immediately exploded.

His act of extreme bravery not only brought him the ultimate in honours for valour (the inscription on the cross itself) but promotion to Lieutenant.

Source: Author MaggieG

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

A Pocketful of History Trivia Quiz

Designs on the reverse of some British coins have changed in recent times to celebrate the anniversaries of historical events. Have a look at your change! What can you learn from it?

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