Counting money

You've got a handful of coins. The question: how much money is that altogether?

We'll learn a clever method — not piling everything in at once, but in an orderly way.

A three-step method

Step 1 — sort by value. Biggest first, smallest last. Step 2 — count by group. First the dollar/pound coins, then 50¢/50p, then 25¢/20p, and so on. Step 3 — combine. Add up the totals from each group.

Example: counting 5 coins (UK pence)

You have: £2, 50p, 50p, 20p, 10p.

Step 1 — sort. Already sorted. Step 2 — count by group:

• Pounds: £2 (one coin) → £2.
• 50p: 50 + 50 = £1.
• 20p: 20.
• 10p: 10.

Step 3 — combine.

£2 + £1 = £3

20p + 10p = 30p

Total: £3 30p.

Trick: pairs help

When counting pence/cents, look for pairs that make a round number:

• 50p + 50p = £1
• 20p + 20p + 10p = 50p
• 5p + 5p = 10p

This turns small change into nice round amounts.

Another example (US cents)

You have: two quarters, two dimes, one nickel = 25¢ + 25¢ + 10¢ + 10¢ + 5¢.

• 25¢ + 25¢ = 50¢
• 10¢ + 10¢ = 20¢
• 5¢

Total: 50¢ + 20¢ + 5¢ = 75¢.

Notes and coins together

Notes counted separately:

• $10+$5 + two $1coins=<strong>$17.
• £5 + 50p + 50p + 20p = £5 + £1 + 20p = £6 20p.

Summary

• Sort coins by value.
• Count by group of like coins.
• Look for pairs that make round numbers (50p+50p=£1).
• Notes and coins counted separately, then combined.