Bowers on collecting: From 1954

By Q. David Bowers

In the December 1954 issue of The Numismatist Stuart Mosher presented the following:

Copper Quiz for Coin Collectors. Count five for each correct answer. If you score 70 you have a very fine score. Fifty or less is below average, while 90 or more is remarkable.

  1. Which contains the most copper, a Lincoln cent of 1954 or a Jefferson nickel of 1954?
  2. What country is famous for issuing the largest copper coins?
  3. Approximately what percentage of copper will be found in foreign gold coins?
  4. What country of ancient times used copper coins weighing about one pound and equal in value to one ox?
  5. If you were to refine 20 pounds of current U.S. silver coins, how much copper would you obtain?
  6. What country issued the same denomination and about the same type of copper coins for over 2,000 years?
  7. Why are policemen sometimes called “cops,” or “coppers?”
  8. What state in the U.S. produces the most copper?
  9. What country in the world produces the most copper?
  10. During the Civil War some people were called “copperheads.” Who were they?
  11. Which is the better conductor of heat, iron or copper?
  12. Which came first, the Copper (Bronze) Age or the Iron Age?
  13. Name the one U.S. coin that did not contain copper as an alloy.
  14. What is the largest English copper coin ever made?
  15. For three years the United States made silver coins containing three parts silver and one part copper. What coin was it?
  16. What is the chemical symbol for copper?
  17. Name the one year between 1793 and 1857 when the United States did not strike copper coins.
  18. Was copper ever used as an alloy in the silver coins of ancient Greece?
  19. Give the name of at least one copper coin of ancient Rome.
  20. What was the largest amount of money ever paid for a U.S. copper coin?

Please note: Correct answers as of 1954.

Answers:

  1. The nickel containing 57.87 grains of copper against 33.60 grains in our current cent. (Since 1944).
  2. Sweden with its copper plate money.
  3. About 10 percent.
  4. The Roman Republic around 300 B.C.
  5. As they contain 10% copper you would get two pounds.
  6. China, with its copper one-cash pieces.
  7. Because the English police once wore large shiny copper buttons on their uniforms.
  8. California.
  9. United States of America.
  10. Northerners who sympathized with the Confederates.
  11. Copper.
  12. The Copper or Bronze Age.
  13. Steel cent of 1943.
  14. Twopence of 1797.
  15. Silver three-cent pieces of 1851-1853.
  16. Cu.
  17. 1815.
  18. Yes.
  19. Aes, Sestertius, Dupondius, Quadrans, Follis, Semis.
  20. $2,500 paid by Henry Hines for a U.S. cent of 1799.

If you wish to contact me or send any inquiries, you may direct them to my e-mail qdbarchive@metrocast.net.

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Comments

  1. cagcrisp says

    • cagcrisp says
    May 20, 2020 at 9:54 am
    “The United States Treasury will do something this Afternoon that they haven’t done in 3+ decades.
    The United States Treasury will issue 20 year Bonds.
    The United States Treasury will sell $20B.
    My Guess is they will be Well Received.
    The When Issued is ~ 1.23%”

    The Auction just concluded with the Yield being 1.22%.

    My Guess was that it would be Well Received.

    The Bid to Cover was 2.53

    That means for every Dollar issued there was $2.53 trying to get the Offering…

    …SO…Yes the auction was Well Received…

  2. Coinasaurus says

    I’m really interested in developing knowledge of the “Notgeld” era in Germany. Any suggestions on a good book to get started with.

    I see you ( Mr cagcrisp ) as a knowlegable person in this area
    study.

    Thank you for your all your posts here.

  3. cagcrisp says

    The price of the Basketball Hall of Fame 2020 Proof $5 Gold Coin has been changed to $644.50

    The American Eagle 2019 One Ounce Palladium Reverse Proof Coin has been changed to $2,600.00…

  4. Zephin says

    $69.50

    •Mark the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II with the gift of silver available in limited quantities
    •A symbolic V75 privy mark is stamped on the obverse of this American Eagle Silver Proof Coin
    •Corresponding end of World War II package sleeve and Certificate of Authenticity are included

    Item Number: 20XF

    Mintage Limit: 75,000

    Product Limit: 75,000

    Household Order Limit: 1

  5. John Q. Coinage says

    Well the 75k ASE’s will sell out in a blitzkreig…… GOLD Basketball is so overpriced & regardless the design does nothing for me & the curved gimmick is still just a gimmick…..
    20yr for 1.22% really. I would buy beanie babies instead or Glocks. Frigging joke, I always love the banks basiscally charge 25% on a credit card & pay you .08% on savings, sounds fine to me…..CD’s @ banks you could get a good %# now it sux

  6. Erik H says

    John Q. Coinage,

    There are a few online savings accounts offering more than the 20 year bond that cagcrisp was talking about (bankrate currently shows 2 but I have one that’s not listed).

    I just picked up another 0% interest cash back C.C. with a $200 bonus. It will give me 1.5% on every purchase. I joke that it’s negative interest for the bank & free $$ for me.

  7. So Krates says

    Nice quiz… that was fun. I got a 60, not really a copper guy.

    7. Why are policemen sometimes called “cops,” or “coppers?”

    I personally think the reason is that it was known that they would look the other way in exchange for a copper piece. Cheaply bribed (not a silver, not a gold, but only a copper).

    But when I tried to confirm this, I could not find any supporting evidence.

    A. Because the English police once wore large shiny copper buttons on their uniforms.

    Despite Mr. Mosher’s assertion, there is scant info to support this theory also. All signs point to something more like this:

    “early 18th century (as a verb): perhaps from obsolete cap ‘arrest’, from Old French caper ‘seize’, from Latin capere ” …

    “The term copper was the original, unshortened word, originally used in Britain to mean “someone who captures”. In British English, the term cop is recorded (Shorter Oxford Dictionary) in the sense of ‘to capture’ from 1704, derived from the Latin capere via the Old French caper”

    I’ve always been partial to the popular 1960s insults of the porcine persuasion*. From that uniquely American chant often heard at Black Lives Matter marches, “Pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon”, to the ranting free speech activist Eric Brandt, who calls them “Blueshbags”, there is no shortage of colorful names for LEOs.

    * the first documented reference to this [use of pig applied to police] being in the Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit and Pickpocket Eloquence, published in London in 1811.

  8. cagcrisp says

    “The Fed has SO MANY levers to pull”…

    Yesterday the Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee April 28–29, 2020 were released.

    Buried deep in the 13 page PDF file was the Following:

    “A few participants also noted that the balance sheet could be used to reinforce the Committee’s forward guidance regarding the path of the federal funds rate through Federal Reserve purchases of Treasury securities on a scale necessary to keep Treasury yields at short- to medium-term maturities capped at specified levels for a period of time.”

    “capped at specified levels for a period of time”

    The Last time, that I know, that the Fed capped yields was the Early 1940’s.

    However…The Fed did discuss…

    …SO…In the Fed’s arsenal is the Possibility of Capping yields…Again…

    …70+ years Again…

  9. cagcrisp says

    First Time Ever for the United Kingdom…

    The United Kingdom issued its First bond with a negative yield as investors prepared for the possibility that Britain joins other European countries in having negative interest rates.

    Comments from U.K. central bank officials in recent days fueled speculation among investors that the country may set benchmark interest rates below zero, as part of efforts to support the economy during the coronavirus pandemic. The policy rate is currently 0.1%.

    Some investors have sought to lock in yields near zero ahead of any cut. On Wednesday, the U.K. sold 3 year government bonds with a negative 0.003% yield. That was the first auction result below zero, meaning the government is being paid by investors to borrow from them.

    Yields on existing bonds maturing in 2 and 3 years have traded in negative territory in recent days. The midpoint yield on existing 3 year U.K. government bonds was 0.004 yesterday. The yield on the 2 year gilt was minus 0.027%…

  10. Jerry Diekmann says

    Negative yields don’t make any sense to me unless some people think they can make money by buying bonds at a lower negative interest than later issued bonds at a higher negative interest. The whole thing sounds weird. Would banks ever start paying consumers to borrow money from the banks? Don’t pay any attention to that man behind the curtain!

  11. Jerry Diekmann says

    75th anniversary of End of WW II – silver American Eagle coin: Pass – privy mark I a gimmick and way overpriced. Same for gold American eagle coin

    Basketball – gold, silver, and clad coins: Pass – curved coi is a gimmick and all three coins are way overpriced.

    Women’s suffrage silver coin and medal: Pass – a continuation of the WW I commemorative coin of 2018 requiring you to buy the coin and medal together; didn’t buy any, and I’m a collector who has bought most of the commemorative coins issued by the Mint since 1982. With few exceptions, most of these coins can be bought on the secondary market today for less than the Mint’s issue price at the time. But we didn’t know that at the time, and the prices were so much less than what the Mint is charging now.

    Like cagcrisp has said, if this is the only way the Mint can make money on the numismatic side is by gimmicks coupled with outlandish markups, then count me out. I’m done throwing good money after bad money.

  12. John Q. Coinage says

    Jerry….. reverand!! I have reduced mint buying about 98% over the past 3 years, know what I don’t miss it one bit…….. They killed this golden goo$e….Zero so far this year & last year ret’d all the Sac Coin & Currency sets every one crapolo centering on FRN!

    Also, the designs are gawdawul, the sufferagettes make me suffer to look @ the art school photo shop design. Baskeetball WAY, I said WAY overpriced gold, design, meh…….. WW1 was a total POS design

  13. DaveSWFL says

    Time to change the name to Mint Complaint Blog or Econ. 101 blog!

    Maybe call Marcus “The Profit” Lemonis .

    Time for the mint to take a hint. Need another 30 year hiatus from Commemoratives, medals, C&C sets, etc. Make coinage and bullion and sell direct – period!

    Here’s a real comedy act – the mint director appears on the Shark Tank. Would love to hear Mr. Wonderful’s take on the “business “.

    I, too, am done with the mint’s retail products.

  14. Erik H says

    Jerry Diekmann says

    MAY 21, 2020 AT 4:13 PM

    Would banks ever start paying consumers to borrow money from the banks? 

    Yes, see my post above. Although this is not a new phenomenon. Banks give me more $$ annually to borrow from them for 30 days than they give me when I make a deposit. And people wonder why there’s so much debt in the system.

  15. TomP. in Va says

    @DaveSWFL….Just over a year ago @Caliskier had tagged this site as ‘MIN’ the Mint Investment News (or was it Mostly Investment News?).
    I was amused but had my own name in mind…’MOB’…the Mint Obituary Blog with a cacophony of voices singing a dirge of woe is the Mint and coin collectors. It has only gotten worse over the past year. But I have to admit I agree with most of what has been said.
    And yet I was encouraged when a month ago, my grandson excitedly told me he had found a 1920 D cent in change at his work (it had looked different and he checked it out). Wow, a hundred year old coin! Even though he is a minimalist as a early 20s years old, he still wants me to give him the mint sets for Christmas – just keep stacking them. I continue to encourage his younger sister in the hobby by having her help me with my collection and explaining my interest in the various coins. My point is we can each seed interest in the hobby to renew the hobby in the future. I will continue to buy and give silver dollars for births and other special occasions as part of that ‘seeding’.

  16. cagcrisp says

    GLD is the 2nd most popular ETF in 2020…

    Through w/e 05/18/2020 there have been $11.8 Billion of inflows for 2020…

  17. Buzz Killington says

    @Eric — You are totally clueless about the retail payment processing system. The Bank makes money on every transaction by charging the retailer, which costs are passed onto you. This isn’t debt, it’s commerce.

  18. Larry says

    I think I am going to break down and buy some gold bullion. I feel the economic tsunami coming. Opinions on the best place to buy AGE’s online?

  19. So Krates says

    @ Larry – Support your local LCS if possible. Check the big online guys for pricing and if the shops are open in your area, ask them if they can match the price for the items you want.

  20. Larry says

    @ So Krates – if only we had a local coin store here. The one I was going to just recently went out of business.

  21. SteveW says

    APMEX is having a spring sale. Might be some good buys with them or other large dealers.

  22. Larry says

    Stopped at a local pawn/coin store
    They sell gold eagle’s for the same as Apmex. I was never a fan of bullion, I always bought collector coins. But with the way things are going, I just feel compelled to buy a little insurance.

  23. Erik H says

    Buzz Killington says

    MAY 22, 2020 AT 9:22 AM

    @Eric — You are totally clueless about the retail payment processing system. The Bank makes money on every transaction by charging the retailer, which costs are passed onto you. This isn’t debt, it’s commerce.

    LOL, you really believe that I’m not aware of that? That’s just one reason for the cashless push. In some countries those fees are pass on directly to the the customer plus various other stamp duties, compliance fees, etc. I’m just waiting for that to take place here. This is just the bank’s psychological warm up for the unlearned.

    I could go on & on but some knowledge I like to keep for myself.

  24. SteveW says

    longarm, thanks for that link. Very helpful. didn’t realize what a rip off APMEX is.

  25. Jerry Diekmann says

    John Q. Coinage – Looks like we are in complete agreement. I’ll buy a couple of the uncirculated and proof sets but this will be the first year since 1985 (when there were no commem coins) that I have not bought any commemorative coins. Like you say, the designs are awful and even if the designs were great the prices the Mint is charging are way beyond reasonable. if they need to charge those prices to make a profit, then they must have a helluva lot of overhead that isn’t contributing at all to operations – maybe Ryder’s salary, for starters. I’m not going to be a fool and pay these prices for gimmick coins and badly designed coins.

  26. Coinasaurus says

    I like Well Designed Coins. That’s why I collect them. Give me ” gawd awful Collector Dinner Plate ” Designs on a Coin and I’m not happy. I pout and stomp my feet and want to smash Plates.

    Help help call 911. There’s an angry coin nut in the China Gift Shop !

    I really don’t like the ” most Beautiful Coin Design” ever. That in the “Experts” Opinion was St Gaudens design used on the $20 Double Eagle. Oh it’s OK, don’t get me wrong. I like it enough on the Bullion AGE. But my favorite St Gauden design is the one on the $10 Eagle . NOW THAT is a beautiful Coin ! ! ! ! !

    Probably the absolute most Beautiful Coin Design , in my humble opinion was Anthony de Franciscis’ Peace Design in High Relief on the 1921 Coin. Give me a full strike 1921 Peace Dollar , God , and then take me Lord. My Life would be as complete as it would ever get.

    I once went to the Smithsonian to see a Fully Struck 1921 Peace but could NOT find one. I saw so much Gold , it was BORING. Even saw an Octagonal 1915 Panama-Pacific $50 Gold but it wasn’t in any condition appropriate to a “National Collection”. But I have to admit , it was still an impressive sight .

    So we’re almost on the 100th Anniversary of the de Francisci 1921 Peace Dollar and our inept US Mint Overseers have chosen to ignore this event. Run all those fools out of the Beltway Swamp. That’s what needs to happen.

    A steamed Coin Nut.

  27. John Q. Coinage says

    Coinasaurus I agree I got some $1o Ind. when AU was down. 63’s for like 850. common dates but beautiful like buttah…. I always had a hankering for the SLQ obverse. Maybe the original obverse kinds Simpsons sexy for the 10 year old collector…..
    Last, no doubt the 1921 Morgan end PEACE start will be f’d up by the mint rolyally. Or Congress or whoever. Last, will they be selling those fuguly HR Gold coins for 10 years????? Mintage limit like 200k sold 30k over three years or some other LOOOONG time. Pull them stick a fork in them Sec. Munchkin

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