Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2016 May 18

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May 18

rescue pet

The past few episodes of Chicago Med has shown a green pet bird rescued by Ethan Choi. What kind of bird is it?2604:2000:7113:9D00:B81E:C008:E611:FADF (talk) 05:00, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

Can you find a video clip? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:39, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

There could be a few of them on YouTube, or on the NBC website.2604:2000:7113:9D00:B81E:C008:E611:FADF (talk) 06:48, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

If you can find even one, that might help others here identify the bird. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:54, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

Shanghai Noon - Value of Gold Pieces

In the Film Shanghai Noon, there was a ransom for 100,000 gold pieces. What would that be worth at 1881 (in US Dollars or GB Pounds) & what would the gold be worth today ? 194.74.238.137 (talk) 12:10, 18 May 2016 (UTC)[

It would depend on the weight in gold pieces. Assuming they were American coins, let's go with a typical Gold dollar. In 1881, that'd be worth 100,000 dollars (by face value). According to this inflation calculator, that'd be worth (by face value) $2,325,581.40 If that was by "melt value" (that is the value of the gold), at 90% gold, .04837 troy oz would be 100000 * 0.9 * 0.04837 = 4353.3 troy ounces of gold, which by today's price of $1,271 per troy ounce = 4353.3 * 1271 = $5,533,044.30 Of course, different sized coins would give different values. --Jayron32 12:22, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

In the days of circulating gold coins, the US produced denominations from $1 to $20, so you can see how much variation is possible. In this case the original context is fictional so we really can't say what might have been meant. --69.159.60.83 (talk) 22:59, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

I think the gold pieces were Chinese coins but what type or the face value I don't know.194.74.238.137 (talk) 12:29, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

It would depend on how big the coins were. There was a wide variance in different types of coins and their gold content. History of Chinese currency leads us to note that the Qing dynasty (who ruled China at the time of the movie), used a system of coinage based on silver and copper, and not gold. Actually, looking at that article, it doesn't appear that Imperial China ever minted gold coins for circulation. --Jayron32 12:36, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

@Jayron32: Chinese Gold Panda The Quixotic Potato (talk) 14:57, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

Which would have required a time machine to be used in 1881. --Jayron32 15:03, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

True, but it was a response to "it doesn't appear that China ever minted gold coins for circulation". The Quixotic Potato (talk) 15:55, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

Fair enough. So amended. --Jayron32 16:14, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

As a bullion coin rather than a circulating one, it's irrelevant anyway. (And Jay, would you mind indicating it in place when you've made a subsstantive change, e.g. write "China Imperial China" instead of just inserting "Imperial"?) --69.159.60.83 (talk) 22:59, 18 May 2016 (UTC)