1)
Bearing in mind that the current census took place in Iyar of the second year - after the Mishkan was completed, how is it possible for the numbers to have been equal to those of the census that took place half a year earlier in Tishri - when they began donating towards the Mishkan (See Ki Sisa Sh'mos, 30:16)?
1.
Refer to Sh'mos, 30:16:4:1-3.