TreasureGirl Posted December 13, 2009 Report Share Posted December 13, 2009 I got a question in trivial pursuit that basically asked, "When such-and-such sunken ship (Liberty 7 I think) was discovered, whose face appeared on the dimes it had been carrying?" Now I know nothing of my naval history, but I figured they wouldn't be putting many Roosies on boats by the time it was released, so I said the cover-all answer, "Liberty." And got it wrong. The answer was... Mercury. My team won anyway (I didn't actually get the pizza slice marker) but since I'm usually so bad at trivia games it felt good proving it wrong (Thank you Wikipedia!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RHM22 Posted December 13, 2009 Report Share Posted December 13, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr B Posted December 13, 2009 Report Share Posted December 13, 2009 I dont know anything about the sunken ship but i do know you are correct in thinking Mercury never appeared on any US dime , it is Lady Liberty on those dimes as you say although its long been nicknamed the Mercury dime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Posted December 13, 2009 Report Share Posted December 13, 2009 Good answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted December 13, 2009 Report Share Posted December 13, 2009 Liberty wearing a phygarian cap, to be technical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmarotta Posted December 19, 2009 Report Share Posted December 19, 2009 I got a question in trivial pursuit that basically asked, "When such-and-such sunken ship (Liberty 7 I think) was discovered, whose face appeared on the dimes it had been carrying?" Now I know nothing of my naval history, but I figured they wouldn't be putting many Roosies on boats ... LIBERTY BELL 7 was Gus Grissom's Project Mercury spacecraft ("capsule"). (Summary here from the Public Affairs Office of Kennedy Space Center.) The Roosevelt Dime was the current coin, but, in 1961, all silver coins circulated at par. So, for his July 21, 1961, flight Capt. Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, collected (apparently) 52 "Mercury" (Winged Head Liberty) dimes to carry on his mission. His craft was lost at sea upon return, but recovered in a project financed by The Discovery Channel. Also, while common sea jargon can vary a bit, a boat is a craft small enough to be carried on a ship. That easy (and easily wrong) definition comes from the days of saliling ships, when a ship had three masts and its sails were square-rigged, whereas a "boat" could be a single mast lateen. (See Google Images for many sets of "1000 Words" that show what these are very easily.) And I am surprised that Art did not catch this as he, too, was an enthusiastic lad, following the Mercury Project at that time. (But I agree, it's Miss Liberty, not Mercury on the dime.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TreasureGirl Posted December 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 You know, the thought that it might have been a spacecraft never occurred to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr B Posted December 21, 2009 Report Share Posted December 21, 2009 You know, the thought that it might have been a spacecraft never occurred to me... Ditto that , although it does seem obvious now seeing the name Liberty Bell 7 , i dont think the US names ships that way,with the number i mean as part of the name rather than the hull number which would be prefixed with a combination of letters. Spacecraft on the other hand...(Being ex USN kicking myself) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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