Oksana Bandrivska was born and raised in Ukraine. She recently graduated with high honors from the Kiev University of Law and moved to New York City to reunite with her family.

Mahdi Bseiso was born in Jordan to a Russian mother and Palestinian father. From his early childhood days, he was fascinated with coins and as he grew up he became to be one of the most prominent numismatists on Middle Eastern coins. Mahdi moved to the United States in 1998, where he finished high school and college. He moved to New York City to work as a consultant specializing in anti-money laundering and market abuse prevention.