Tag Archive: The Oregon Historical Society Museum

With just two possible outcomes, a coin toss is one of the best ways of resolving any dispute. Not only that, but everyone has some small change handy. This means a result can be decided within seconds. It doesn't matter if the thrower catches the coins or lets it fall to the floor, the result still stands. The ancient Romans used this. And today, all football matches have the referee tossing a coin to decide which team kicks off the game. It's the same story in cricket with who starts to bat.