Contestants Try to 'Stump the Experts' at ANA

Contestants Try to 'Stump the Experts' at ANA

Experts took on all challengers in Chicago on Thursday, August 12, as Collectors Universe hosted a "Stump the Experts Contest" at the 108th Anniversary ANA Convention.

Three panels of coin and currency experts took turns on center stage, as contestants tried to come up with questions that would confound the best of the best. For those managing to stump the stars, the prize was a certificate for $25 good toward any purchase in any of Collectors Universe's online auctions or galleries.

First up from 2:30 - 3:00 p.m. were world coin experts Jim Elman, Ron Gillio and Karl Stephens. At 3:00 they yielded the hot seats to experts in the field of currency Tom Denly, Lyn Knight and Mel Steinberg. Finally, at 3:30 U.S. coin authorities Q. David Bowers, David Hall and Jim Halperin got their chance to square off against contestants.

And the contestants were ready for them, having either submitted questions online during the previous weeks or showing up in person for the face-off. Over fifty questions were posed, including many from young people. In fact, youngsters came up with some of the best questions, more than one walking off with a triumphant grin. After all, it's not every day one has a chance to perplex the most influential people in the field!

Want to know how you'd do if asked the questions the experts faced? Following is a list of some of the questions submitted to the three panels of experts. To see all the answers at once, click here.

FOR WORLD COIN EXPERTS:

1.	Name a non-British country that struck a coin called a "Guinea."
2.	Prior to 1933 which country's coins were official legal tender in New Zealand?
3.	In 1947 all coinage from what country was reported to have been melted down except for 5 coins?
4.	What country's regular coinage depicts a polar bear?
5.	Who designed Canada's "voyageur" dollar reverse?
6.	Which country has a denomination called a "Srang"?
7.	What was the first year the British sovereign was struck?
8.	In the mid-1990's what country issued a series of coin portraying the heroes of Star Trek?
9.	What is the name of the grandson of Queen Victoria who was depicted on German coins?
10.	Which were the principal coins of the American Colonies?
11.	Name the five countries that made up the Central American Republic.
12	What did Canada's first silver dollar for circulation commemorate?
13.	To the nearest gram, what is the gold content of a 3 Rubel gold piece from the 1800's?
14.	Under which constitutional monarch was Denmark's current decimal system of coinage introduced?
15.	On the 1944 and 1945 five-cent pieces of Canada, the border was not beaded but rather had a pattern in Morse Code. What phrase or sentence was placed in Morse Code on those coins?

FOR CURRENCY EXPERTS:

World Currency:

1. From what country do sealskin notes originate?
2. What were "Operation Bernhardt" and English white bank notes?

U.S. Currency:

1.	What piece of regular currency shows the serial number in only one location?
2.	What two famous inventors are pictured on the reverse of the $2 educational note?
3.	The portrait of Lincoln on the current $5 note is modeled from a photograph taken by whom?
4.	On the famous "Tombstone" $10 note, who is pictured?
5.	On the famous "Silver Dollar Reverse" $5 bill what date appears on the Morgan dollar in the center?
6.	On the famous "Bob Hope" 50c fractional currency issue who, in reality, was Bob Hope?
7.	Excluding the high denomination notes ($500 and above) by a type, what is the rarest issue of "small size" currency?
8.	The $5 educational note celebrated what technological theme?
9.	What mayor of New York City appeared on a large size legal tender note?
10.	Of the first seven presidents all have appeared on currency except whom?

FOR U.S. COIN EXPERTS:

1.	On the Washington Carver half-dollars, the artist apparently made a mistake: A state line was inadvertently omitted, thereby creating one state out of what would be two [states] on the map. So my question is: Which two states [bordered] the line that was omitted?
2.	What is the first coin [that was] struck in the United States?
3.	R.W. Browning, Author of Early Quarter-Dollars of the United States: A Phantomlike Figure - When did he die?
4.	[Given that] the lowest mintage $10 Liberty gold piece was 1875, (200 + 20 proofs) then what was the lowest mintage New Orleans $10 Liberty gold piece?
5.	Why is the 1933 $10 gold piece legal to own [whereas] the 1933 $20 gold piece is illegal to own?
6.	What is the date of the first mintmarked quarter-dollar? The first mmed half-dollar? The first mmed dollar?
7.	What U.S. coin has the fewest number of words on the reverse?
8.	Grant faces which way on the 1922 Commemoratives?
9.	Who is pictured on the front of the Pilgrim?
10.	What short-lived, unpopular denomination had a total mintage of just over 1,350,000 coins?
11.	What was the first U.S. coin with a mintage of over one million? Over one billion?
12.	Who was the person that allegedly got the 1933 Double Eagles out of the Mint?
13.	Were there any 1921-D over S Morgan dollars minted?
14.	What commemorative was designed by the same man responsible for the design of the Peace Dollar?
15.	What is the only year that a mintmark appears on a "V" nickel?
16.	What two U.S. coins were designed by Adolph A. Weinman?
17.	What U.S. commemorative was accompanied by Sweden's release of a 2 Kroner coin to celebrate the same event?
18.	What is the significance of the 2x4 on the Missouri Commemorative?
19.	What Ohio city is mentioned on the reverse of the McKinley gold dollar?
20.	Of the gold proof denominations, which has the lowest average number per year that grade PR-65?
21.	What is the difference between a specimen and a proof?
22.	What is the difference between a variety and an error?

How'd you do? Remember, to see a complete list of answers, click here.