Weekend QoD: Sunday, October 12

[wintergreen48]

Show Me the Money

Lots of talk these days about the economy, but then, money always talks. Today’s QoD is all about money. This will remain open until noon EDT on Tuesday, October 14. Please spoilerize answers.

1. The first known coins date to the mid-7th Century BC and were made of electrum, a naturally-occurring alloy of gold and silver. About a hundred years later, a king of Lydia introduced the first bi-metallic currency, one that included separate gold and silver coins, with specific relationships between the coins in the two metals. This revolutionized trade and finance, and may have made Lydia the richest country on earth. For a while, anyway. This was about the same time that Cyrus the Great of Persia was on the march, and the Lydian king asked the oracle at Delphi what would happen if he went to war against Persia: the oracle told him that if did so, a great empire would be destroyed, so off he went. Too bad: it turned out that it was his own empire that was destroyed. Who was this loser?

2. When the U.S. created its financial system under the Constitution, we thought we were pretty revolutionary because we went to a decimal system, but we weren’t the first ones to do so, nosirree: another country beat us to the punch by almost a hundred years. Oddly enough, before they went decimal, this other country only had two coins, a really tiny silver coin (it weighed about 1/6 what our silver dime weighed, back when the dime had silver in it), and an even tinier coin that was half the size of the first: when they went decimal, they set up a system of copper, silver and gold coins, with the lowest value (copper) coin being equal to one-fourth of the value of the larger of the two earlier silver coins, and the highest value (gold) coin being equal to several hundred of those older silver coins, with lots of coins in between these extremes, and they did it practically overnight. What country was this?

3. In 1862, Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury got Congress to pass a law authorizing a paper currency (‘Greenbacks’) in order to finance the Civil War. Eight years later, in a case in which a creditor objected to a pre-Civil War debt being paid with ‘Greenbacks,’ the Supreme Court held that Congress had no authority to issue paper currency. The Chief Justice who wrote the Court’s opinion… was the former Secretary of the Treasury who was responsible for Greenbacks in the first place. Who was this guy, who was for paper money before he was against it?

4. During the colonial period, hard cash was hard to come by. What vile, noxious substance was used as ‘money’ in the Virginia Colony? The very first law passed by the very first General Assembly in Virginia set the value of this stuff.

5. Certain native American groups used ‘wampum’ as a medium of exchange. What the heck was ‘wampum’ made out of?

6. The Gift of the Magi opens ‘One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies.’ How is this possible (i.e., how could Della have change totaling the remaining $1.27, if none of it was in pennies)?

7. As you know, ‘frank’ means (among other things) ‘free.’ The French ‘franc’ was originally a gold coin, created to pay the ransom necessary to free a French king who managed to get himself captured by the Black Prince at the Battle of Poitiers during the Hundred Years War (which actually lasted 116 years, but who’s counting). The English released him, in exchange for his own son as a hostage, to allow him to raise funds for the ransom; when his son escaped captivity, the king voluntarily returned to English captivity himself, an action which some people thought was an exercise in chivalry and honor, and which other people thought was just plain jackassery. This king (or rather, his wife) had ten children in eleven years, which was really cool, especially since, well, he seems to have kind of liked guys better, if you catch my drift, not that there is anything wrong with that. Who was this good king?

8. In 312, Constantine the Great introduced a new gold coin, the solidus. Each coin was pure gold and was equal in weight to 24 carob seeds, and this same coin, with the same purity and weight, was minted by the Romans (later called ‘Byzantines,’ although they themselves never called themselves that) for over 700 years, until Michael IV started monkeying around with it around 1035. As it happens, the Greek name for the carob is ‘keration,’ and each solidus was equal to ’24 keratonia,’ which is why, to this day, ’24 karat’ means ‘pure gold.’ The solidus was originally one month’s pay for a soldier in Constantine’s army, and our own word ‘soldier’ comes from ‘solidus.’ Lots of European countries later minted coins with similar names-- ‘soldo’ in Italy, ‘sol’ and later ‘sou’ in France, etc. These coins were equivalent to the English shilling (although ‘shilling’ itself comes from a different root). As it happens, there was a time in England when, if you joined the army, you were paid a bounty of one shilling, and by accepting the ‘King’s Shilling’ you agreed to the terms of enlistment. So, very roundabout… how many pennies were there in the ‘King’s Shilling,’ back in the days when England had shillings? And how many shillings in a pound? (hint: the number of pennies in a shilling was the same as the number of equivalent smaller coins in a soldo or a sou in Italy and France; and the number of shillings in a pound is the same as the number of soldo or sou in the equivalent larger coins in Italy and France).

9. Staying with Great Britain’s pre-decimal monetary system… they reckoned in pounds, shillings and pence, which were abbreviated ‘L’ and ‘S’ and ‘D.’ It’s pretty easy to see why ‘S’ stands for ‘shilling,’ but why the heck did ‘L’ stand for ‘pound’?

10. And the second part: why the heck did ‘D’ stand for ‘penny’? Hint: if you take a look at Matthew 19:22, and compare the King James version of the verse with the Latin Vulgate version or the original Greek version, you will see the answer. Well, I saw it, and that’s what counts, since it is my QoD.



1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was:

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was:

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was:

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was:

5. ‘Wampum’ was:

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because:

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was:

8. A shilling had how many pennies?
A pound had how many shillings?

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because:

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because:

[a1mamacat]

Show Me the Money

Lots of talk these days about the economy, but then, money always talks. Today’s QoD is all about money. This will remain open until noon EDT on Tuesday, October 14. Please spoilerize answers.

1. The first known coins date to the mid-7th Century BC and were made of electrum, a naturally-occurring alloy of gold and silver. About a hundred years later, a king of Lydia introduced the first bi-metallic currency, one that included separate gold and silver coins, with specific relationships between the coins in the two metals. This revolutionized trade and finance, and may have made Lydia the richest country on earth. For a while, anyway. This was about the same time that Cyrus the Great of Persia was on the march, and the Lydian king asked the oracle at Delphi what would happen if he went to war against Persia: the oracle told him that if did so, a great empire would be destroyed, so off he went. Too bad: it turned out that it was his own empire that was destroyed. Who was this loser?

2. When the U.S. created its financial system under the Constitution, we thought we were pretty revolutionary because we went to a decimal system, but we weren’t the first ones to do so, nosirree: another country beat us to the punch by almost a hundred years. Oddly enough, before they went decimal, this other country only had two coins, a really tiny silver coin (it weighed about 1/6 what our silver dime weighed, back when the dime had silver in it), and an even tinier coin that was half the size of the first: when they went decimal, they set up a system of copper, silver and gold coins, with the lowest value (copper) coin being equal to one-fourth of the value of the larger of the two earlier silver coins, and the highest value (gold) coin being equal to several hundred of those older silver coins, with lots of coins in between these extremes, and they did it practically overnight. What country was this?

3. In 1862, Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury got Congress to pass a law authorizing a paper currency (‘Greenbacks’) in order to finance the Civil War. Eight years later, in a case in which a creditor objected to a pre-Civil War debt being paid with ‘Greenbacks,’ the Supreme Court held that Congress had no authority to issue paper currency. The Chief Justice who wrote the Court’s opinion… was the former Secretary of the Treasury who was responsible for Greenbacks in the first place. Who was this guy, who was for paper money before he was against it?

4. During the colonial period, hard cash was hard to come by. What vile, noxious substance was used as ‘money’ in the Virginia Colony? The very first law passed by the very first General Assembly in Virginia set the value of this stuff.

5. Certain native American groups used ‘wampum’ as a medium of exchange. What the heck was ‘wampum’ made out of?

6. The Gift of the Magi opens ‘One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies.’ How is this possible (i.e., how could Della have change totaling the remaining $1.27, if none of it was in pennies)?

7. As you know, ‘frank’ means (among other things) ‘free.’ The French ‘franc’ was originally a gold coin, created to pay the ransom necessary to free a French king who managed to get himself captured by the Black Prince at the Battle of Poitiers during the Hundred Years War (which actually lasted 116 years, but who’s counting). The English released him, in exchange for his own son as a hostage, to allow him to raise funds for the ransom; when his son escaped captivity, the king voluntarily returned to English captivity himself, an action which some people thought was an exercise in chivalry and honor, and which other people thought was just plain jackassery. This king (or rather, his wife) had ten children in eleven years, which was really cool, especially since, well, he seems to have kind of liked guys better, if you catch my drift, not that there is anything wrong with that. Who was this good king?

8. In 312, Constantine the Great introduced a new gold coin, the solidus. Each coin was pure gold and was equal in weight to 24 carob seeds, and this same coin, with the same purity and weight, was minted by the Romans (later called ‘Byzantines,’ although they themselves never called themselves that) for over 700 years, until Michael IV started monkeying around with it around 1035. As it happens, the Greek name for the carob is ‘keration,’ and each solidus was equal to ’24 keratonia,’ which is why, to this day, ’24 karat’ means ‘pure gold.’ The solidus was originally one month’s pay for a soldier in Constantine’s army, and our own word ‘soldier’ comes from ‘solidus.’ Lots of European countries later minted coins with similar names-- ‘soldo’ in Italy, ‘sol’ and later ‘sou’ in France, etc. These coins were equivalent to the English shilling (although ‘shilling’ itself comes from a different root). As it happens, there was a time in England when, if you joined the army, you were paid a bounty of one shilling, and by accepting the ‘King’s Shilling’ you agreed to the terms of enlistment. So, very roundabout… how many pennies were there in the ‘King’s Shilling,’ back in the days when England had shillings? And how many shillings in a pound? (hint: the number of pennies in a shilling was the same as the number of equivalent smaller coins in a soldo or a sou in Italy and France; and the number of shillings in a pound is the same as the number of soldo or sou in the equivalent larger coins in Italy and France).

9. Staying with Great Britain’s pre-decimal monetary system… they reckoned in pounds, shillings and pence, which were abbreviated ‘L’ and ‘S’ and ‘D.’ It’s pretty easy to see why ‘S’ stands for ‘shilling,’ but why the heck did ‘L’ stand for ‘pound’?

10. And the second part: why the heck did ‘D’ stand for ‘penny’? Hint: if you take a look at Matthew 19:22, and compare the King James version of the verse with the Latin Vulgate version or the original Greek version, you will see the answer. Well, I saw it, and that’s what counts, since it is my QoD.

Spoiler

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was: Midas

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was: China

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was:

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was: Tobacco

5. ‘Wampum’ was: Shells

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because: she had 4 ha'pennies?

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was: Louis IX

8. A shilling had how many pennies?
A pound had how many shillings?

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because:

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because:

[VAdame]

Give it a shot

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was: Croesus (as in, rich as...)

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was: Nope

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was: Salmon Chase (or is that what they do when they're swimmin' up those fish ladders to spawn? )

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was: WAG....tobacco?

5. ‘Wampum’ was: Shells

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because:
Hmmmmm....they were American, right? So, no farthings or ha'pennies, I don't think.... My grandma, from St. Louis, used to have some odd little pessed-cardboard coins called "mills," worth one-tenth of a cent. We still speak of "mills" when we talk about property taxes, right? But I have no idea if they still make the actual mill token anywhere. But I'll guess that Della had 20 mills, worth 2 cents.

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was: Gotta be one of the numerous Charleses. V? VI?? Joan of Arc's "Dauphin" was Charles VII, IIRC. So, most likely his dad, Charles VI.

8. A shilling had how many pennies? 12
A pound had how many shillings? 20

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because: Same reason we abbreviate pound (weight) as "lb." -- Libra, the Latin word for "pound."

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because: Denarius, an Roman coin.

I recall reading a Schlock Holmes story (funny take-off on Sherlock Holmes by Robert L. Fish) where there's a reference to an LSD (the drug) party.....Schlock misinterprets this as "Pounds, shillings, & pence party" and starts investigating the possible kidnapping of some British financial bigwig! Eh, you'd have to read the whole thing...but Schlock saves the day as usual

[tanstaafl2]

Show Me the Money

Lots of talk these days about the economy, but then, money always talks. Today’s QoD is all about money. This will remain open until noon EDT on Tuesday, October 14. Please spoilerize answers.

Spoiler

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was: Croesus

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was: I dunno

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was: Salmon P. Chase

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was: Tobacco?

5. ‘Wampum’ was: strings of small sea shells. Kinda like puka shell necklaces from those fashion forward 70s...

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because: I dunno. Musta been a 2 cent piece in them there times.

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was: I should know but I do not. Charles V?

8. A shilling had how many pennies? 12
A pound had how many shillings? 20
Hints don't help much but this one I know!

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because: Stands for the latin word librum which was a Roman measure of weight much as the pound came from an English measure of weight.

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because: based on some Latin thing no doubt but I don't recall what.

[jarnon]

Spoiler

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was: Croesus
2. The country that had the first decimal currency was: Holland
3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was: Chase
4.
5. ‘Wampum’ was: seashells
6.
7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was: Louis
8. A shilling had how many pennies? 12
A pound had how many shillings? 20
9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because: the Latin word for pound (librum) stands with L
10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because: the Greek word for penny (denarius) starts with D

[NellyLunatic1980]

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was:

Spoiler

Croesus?

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was:

Spoiler

Greece?

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was:

Spoiler

Roger Taney

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was:

Spoiler

squirrel urine?

5. ‘Wampum’ was:

Spoiler

beads

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because:

Spoiler

she had half-cent pieces?

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was:

Spoiler

John II

8. A shilling had how many pennies?

Spoiler

12

A pound had how many shillings?

Spoiler

20

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because:

Spoiler

it came from the Latin word for pound, "librum" (which is where we get the abbreviation lb. and the zodiac name Libra)

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because:

Spoiler

it came from the name of an old Roman coin

[kroxquo]

Spoiler

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was: Xerxes?

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was: Anytime there's 17th century money involved, I'll guess Holland

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was: Salmon Chase

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was: Tobacco

5. ‘Wampum’ was: Some type of shell. Abalone, I think

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because: There was a two cent coin then?

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was: If it's France then it's probably either a Louis or Charles. Let's go with Louis IX

8. A shilling had how many pennies? 20?
A pound had how many shillings? 16

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because: Something to do with Roman Numeral L representing 50?

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because: Something involving the ancient "dinari"?

[LynPayne]

Spoiler

1 Croesus, 2 France, 3 Salmon P. Chase, 4 tobacco leaves, 5 beads, 6 she used a two-cent coin, 7 Louis IX, 8 ten pennies in a shilling and 12 shillings in a pound, 9 Because "L" stands for the Latin "libra," pound, 10 Because "D" stands for "dix," ten. I am so guessing some of these--fabulous questions!

[KillerTomato]

Let's see if I can do this kind of spoiler!

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was: King George the Worst

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was: Djibouti

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was: Hey, I might actually know this one! Salmon P. Chase (he of the $10,000 bill)

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was: I can at least take a stab at this. Tobacco?

5. ‘Wampum’ was: shells

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because: She had 4 half-pennies.

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was: Good King Wenceslas. Or maybe Charlemagne, but I doubt it. Could be Chuck's father, Pepin....yeah, let's go with him.

8. A shilling had how many pennies? Thank god for all that Dickens I had to read back in school. 12 pence to a shilling, and...
A pound had how many shillings? 20 shillings to a pound.

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because: Something to do with the original Latin, Librium or something like that.

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because: Again, this is from the Latin, Denarius.

[MarleysGh0st]

Spoiler

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was: Croeseus

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was: The Netherlands?

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was: ?

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was: Tobacco

5. ‘Wampum’ was: Shells

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because: There used to be a two cent coin

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was: ?

8. A shilling had how many pennies? 12
A pound had how many shillings? 20

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because: It's Latin.

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because: More Latin.

[Bob78164]

My guesses.

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was: Midas

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was: Spain

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was: Salmon P. Chase, of the $10,000 bill

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was: Tobacco

5. ‘Wampum’ was: Shells (this was an upper-tier Millionaire question a few years ago -- I hope I correctly remember the answer)

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because: The United States still had mils back then, which were worth $0.001.

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was: Louis IX

8. A shilling had how many pennies? 20
A pound had how many shillings? 12

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because: Latin for pound is "libra."

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because: The Greek word for twenty begins with Delta?

--Bob

[TheConfessor]

Spoiler

Show Me the Money

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was: Croesus

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was: France

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was: Oliver Wendell Holmes

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was: Tobacco

5. ‘Wampum’ was: Beads

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because: the USA used to have a 3-cent coin

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was: Let's say Henry. Did France have any Henrys? If you need a number, let's say the Third.

8. A shilling had how many pennies? 12
A pound had how many shillings? 20

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because: it was derived from the Latin word Libra which related to scales and weight

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because: Perhaps based on the quote "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and render unto God the things that are God's (or the Lord's)." And since the Lord is Dominus, maybe the folks would render their pennies unto him and abbreviate them as d to honor the Lord. But I wasn't there, so I can't vouch for that version.

[frogman042]

Well, here goes nothing... which is what I will probably accumulate on this QoD:

Spoiler

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was: Damn, I should know this since I just referrenced this in my account of my BAM experience, but didn't bother looking up the king's name name. WAG: Mykios

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was: Switzerland?

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was: Seward?

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was: Tobacco?

5. ‘Wampum’ was: Shells?

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because: WAG: One of the coins was 'one bit' (as opposed to 2-bits) worth 12.5 cents, so with a dime and a nickel that would be a little more then 27 cents in 3 coins with no pennies.

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was: Louis XIV?

8. A shilling had how many pennies? 12?
A pound had how many shillings? 16?

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because: WAG - a pound is really a pound of sterling silver, s was used for shilling so for silver, the next non-vowel is an L?

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because: WAG - D comes form drachma?

---Jay

[plasticene]

Spoiler

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was:

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was: France

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was: Salmon P. Chase

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was: Tobacco

5. ‘Wampum’ was: Seashells

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because: Two-cent pieces existed

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was:

8. A shilling had how many pennies? 8?
A pound had how many shillings? 12?

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because: L is for Libra

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because: D is for Denarius?

[jsuchard]

Spoiler

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was: Agamemnon? [Wrong period, but at least it's Greek]

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was: France?

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was: Chase? [As in Salmon P. Chase?]

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was: Whiskey [Yay! I think I actually got this one right!]

5. ‘Wampum’ was: Shells / small seashells strung on a string

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because: The existence of 2-cent pieces [or maybe even 3-cent pieces, but I'm pretty sure about 2-cent]

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was: Louis the "something-or-other"th

8. A shilling had how many pennies? 12
A pound had how many shillings? 20 [and a Guinea, for some ridiculous reason, had 21 shillings, just to mix things up]

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because: From the Latin "libra", meaning "pound". The exact same reason we still use "lb" to represent the weight of a British pound.

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because: D stands for "denarius", the Roman equivalent of a penny.

[plasticene]

In case anyone else has a hard time finding the reference, that's supposed to be Matthew 22:19, not Matthew 19:22.

http://incil.info/greeknewtestament/B40C022.htm#V19

Transliterated Greek vs. Latin vs. English

All five Greek versions shown are identical
epideixate moi to nomisma tou kensou oi de prosenegkan auto denarion

Latin Vulgate
ostendite mihi nomisma census at illi obtulerunt ei denarium

King James Version
Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.

American Standard Version
Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a denarius.

Bible in Basic English
Let me see the tax money. And they gave him a penny.

Darby's English Translation
Shew me the money of the tribute. And they presented to him a denarius.

Douay Rheims
Shew me the coin of the tribute. And they offered him a penny.

Noah Webster Bible
Show me the tribute-money. And they brought to him a penny.

Weymouth New Testament
Show me the tribute coin." And they brought Him a shilling. [!!!]

World English Bible
Show me the tax money." They brought to him a denarius.

Young's Literal Translation
show me the tribute-coin?` and they brought to him a denary;

[macrae1234]

Spoiler

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was: Croesus

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was:

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was: Salmon Chase

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was: tobacco

5. ‘Wampum’ was: shell beads

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because: there was a 2 penny coin minted in the 1800’s and some would have been in circulation

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was: Jean le bon

8. A shilling had how many pennies? 12
A pound had how many shillings? 20

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because: Libra is pound in Latin

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because: Denarius is Latin for a coin like penny

[macrae1234]

Spoiler

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was: Croesus

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was:

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was: Salmon Chase

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was: tobacco

5. ‘Wampum’ was: shell beads

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because: there was a 2 penny coin minted in the 1800’s and some would have been in circulation

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was: Jean le bon

8. A shilling had how many pennies? 12
A pound had how many shillings? 20

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because: Libra is pound in Latin

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because: Denarius is Latin for a coin like penny

[wintergreen48]

In case anyone else has a hard time finding the reference, that's supposed to be Matthew 22:19, not Matthew 19:22.

Sorry about that, I tend to be a little lysdexic at times.

And it's another reason why I didn't major in math.

[andrewjackson]

Spoiler

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was: Croesus

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was: Russia

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was: Salmon P. Chase

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was: Tobacco

5. ‘Wampum’ was: beads made from shells

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because: they had 2 cent coins at the time.

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was: Charles V

8. A shilling had how many pennies? 12
A pound had how many shillings? 20

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because: it was based on the Latin word, libra

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because: it was based on the Latin word, denarius

[Weyoun]

Spoiler

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was: Croesus

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was: Wag - Netherlands.

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was: Salmon Chase

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was: tobacco

5. ‘Wampum’ was: shells on string

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because: Well, there was once a two cent coin. There were also halfpennies. Both were used around Civil War time, so I don't know if that fits a time period you had in mind.

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was: I should know, but I don't. Charles V

8. A shilling had how many pennies? Well a pound was 240 pence, so 12.
A pound had how many shillings? 20, then

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because: of libre or whatever Latin is for pound

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because: of denarius

[JBillyGirl]

This is not my quiz. Still, it's better than the Osmonds.

Spoiler

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was: Croesus?

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was: Germany? (thinking of the "thaler"; maybe it was the Netherlands)

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was: Salmon P. Chase? (Didn't he put his own pic on one of the bills?)

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was: Tobacco

5. ‘Wampum’ was: Shells?

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because: There was a two-cent piece back then?

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was: Louis the Something-or-Other

8. A shilling had how many pennies? 12?
A pound had how many shillings? 6?

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because: Probably stood for a Latin word for "pound"; I think that's why weight pounds are abbreviated lbs. Is the word "librum"?

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ because: It was originally a "drachma"?

[Bob Juch]

I can't believe that no one has gotten #2:

Spoiler

The United States

[AnnieCamaro]

Spoiler

1. The loser king who issued the first bi-metallic currency was: Mr. King Croesus

2. The country that had the first decimal currency was: Decimalia

3. The Secretary of the Treasury/Chief Justice of the U.S. who was for paper money before he was against it was: Mr. Secretary Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase

4. Virginia’s first ‘currency’ was: tobacco

5. ‘Wampum’ was: Beads made from shells

6. Della could have had $1.27 in change, with none of it being pennies, because: the two-cent coin still could have been in circulation at the time Mr. O. Henry wrote his story or intended its setting, which isn't specified. Three-cent coins probably were around, too, so with a bunch of dimes and nickels, and maybe even a quarter, there are many possibilities for ending up with $1.27.

7. The good king who invented the ‘franc’ to pay his ransom was: Mr. King Elvis

8. A shilling had how many pennies? 12
A pound had how many shillings? 20

9. ‘L’ stood for ‘pound’ because: they didn't want anybody to think it was P for penny.

10. ‘D’ stood for ‘penny’ becaue: they didn't want anybody to think it was P for pound. They were very P for Picky about having people confuse the two amounts.

I guessed on some of these.

[andrewjackson]

I can't believe that no one has gotten #2:

Spoiler

The United States

That would be a strange answer since the Question specifically says another country beat

Spoiler

the United States

by almost 100 years.