The Love of Money Trivia Quiz

Answer: A naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver

Gold and silver are often found together in nature. When these first coins were made, a little additional silver was added to the alloy. As people learned to extract silver from lower grade ores, its value fell, and the value of gold rose, so more silver was added.

The first Lydian coins contained about 55% gold, 43% silver, and 2% copper and other metals. Later examples have a higher silver content. These early coins are called "trites," and weigh about 4.71 grams, and were worth 1/3 of a stater.

Answer: To pay troops stationed near the borders of the Empire

The term "limes" comes from the the Latin word for border or limit. A limes denarius is distinguishable from a contemporary counterfeit coin by the fact that they were struck from official dies. The most popular theory behind these coins is that the Romans did not want to ship large quantities of bullion to areas where it might fall into the hands of their barbarian enemies, so they paid the troops stationed on the borders with these coins, which the soldiers could exchange for silver coins when they moved to a more secure area.

Answer: You would cut the penny in half

England did mint a few silver farthings and halfpennies, but they were too small in size to be practical and were never made in large quantities. What people did to make small change was to cut a penny into halves or quarters. The English penny traditionally had a cross on the reverse (back) which made it easy to cut the coin into equal parts.

These "cut coins" are a very common find by people with metal detectors. The practice of cutting coins into pieces to make change began in ancient times, and continued into the modern age.

In the United States, for example, the government couldn't produce enough coins to satisfy the needs of commerce, so Spanish milled dollars, or eight-real coins, were legal tender until 1857. These coins were often cut into eight pieces, each worth twelve and one-half cents.

These pieces were called "bits," and this is the origin of the term "two bits" to mean a quarter.

Answer: Tyre

Have you ever wondered what all those money-changers that so upset Jesus were doing at the temple in Jerusalem? The only form of money that the priests of the temple would accept in payment for the temple tax all Jews were required to pay, or to pay for sacrifices, was a coin called "the shekel of Tyre." Most of the money in circulation would have been Roman coins; these would have to be exchanged for shekels of Tyre in order to pay the temple tax or purchase an animal to be sacrificed.

The reason for this is that shekels made in Tyre retained their high (94%) silver content over long periods of time, whereas other circulating coins became more and more debased over time.

A shekel was worth about three Roman denarii; one denarius was the average day's wage at the time, so thirty pieces of silver was a significant sum. Ironically, these coins pictured the bust of Melqart, or Ba'al, a pagan god.

Answer: It must be aesthetically pleasing

Jevons said that in order for something to be considered money, it must be a medium of exchange (a fancy way of saying you can buy things with it); a measure of value that can be divided into smaller units without loss of value; it must be a medium of deferred payment (in other words, it can be used to pay debts); and it must be a store of value that can be reliably saved, stored, and retrieved. Various societies have used some strange things as money, including strings of seashells, cocoa beans, salt, and animal hides.

Answer: Seigniorage

Even when most money was in the form of gold and silver coins, the governments who produced the coins made a profit by producing them. The coins contained just a bit less precious metal than their face value. If you took precious metals to the mint to be coined into money, they would assess a fee that was more than cost of converting your bullion into coins. Sometimes this works in reverse; although the U.S. mints still turn a profit overall, in 2014 it cost 1.7 cents to make a penny, and nearly eight cents to strike a nickel.

Some countries have stopped minting coins of the very lowest denominations due to the costs involved, but all efforts to eliminate the penny in the United States have met with fierce opposition, as has the idea of replacing the $1 bill with a coin.

Answer: Fiat money

Fiat money is basically something that the government proclaims is money, and forces you to accept and use, even though it has little or no value in itself, and cannot be converted into precious metal. Almost all countries today use fiat money. While the United States still has a store of gold in Fort Knox, the banknotes we use to buy things cannot be redeemed for that gold. Earlier banknotes usually could be, and they stated that the government would redeem them in gold or silver on demand; in other words, if you took a ten dollar silver certificate to a federal reserve bank, they would give you ten dollars worth of silver coins for it. Today's banknotes just say, "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private." The major problem with fiat money is the temptation to print too much of it, causing inflation and destroying its value.

Answer: The Department of the Treasury

Most people don't know this, but damaged currency can be replaced under certain circumstances. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing will replace mutilated currency (caused by "fire, water, chemicals, and explosives; animal, insect, or rodent damage; and petrification or deterioration by burying") at full face value if it is still identifiable as U.S. currency, and more than one-half of the note remains. Sometimes they will replace it even if less than one-half remains, if you can convince them that "the missing portions have been totally destroyed." Their website contains instructions on how to submit a claim.

They handle over 30,000 cases a year, and the service is free. Any paper money issued by the federal government can be redeemed at face value, even old money and fractional currency issued as far back as the Civil War.

The United States is unusual in that almost all money issued by the federal government is still redeemable, even gold certificates that are no longer legal tender.

The few exceptions, such as the short-lived "trade dollar," are worth much more than face value to collectors. Most countries periodically demonetize their coins and currency for various reasons, and while the obsolete items may have some collector value, they are no longer usable as money.

Answer: Notaphily

Notaphily is becoming a popular hobby. Old banknotes were not saved as often as coins because of their high face value. They are also more fragile than coins, and thus less likely to survive in good condition. It is still possible to encounter old banknotes in circulation.

Many old notes can be purchased for a small premium over their face value, despite their scarcity. Scripophily is the collecting of bonds and stock certificates; exonumia is the collecting of tokens and medals; philately is the hobby of stamp collecting.

Answer: Paul

The phrase, "For the love of money is the root of all evil," is found in 1 Timothy 6:10, which was written by the Apostle Paul. Jesus did say something similar in Matthew 6:24: "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Mammon was the the personification of greed or material wealth.

It is important to note that it is not money itself that is evil, but the love of money and the single-minded pursuit of it which is condemned.