Counting Money with Coins

Have you ever bought a toffee with coins? Today we learn to count money together! Let us look at our coins. In India we use coins worth one, two, five, ten and twenty rupees.

Each coin has a number on it. That number tells us how many rupees the coin is worth. Let us start easy. Here are two coins. One is ten rupees and one is five rupees. Start with the biggest coin. Ten rupees. Now add five more. Ten plus five makes fifteen rupees.

• Number on coin = its value

Smart trick: always count the biggest coins first, then the smaller ones. It is much easier! Now a bigger pile. We have ten, ten, five and two rupees. How much is all this money? First the two tens. Ten plus ten makes twenty.

• Biggest coins first!

Now add the five. Twenty plus five makes twenty five.

Last, add the two rupee coin. Twenty five plus two makes twenty seven.

So the total is twenty seven rupees. Look, the board counted the same total! Let us try one together. Look at these coins and count with me, biggest first. Twenty, then twenty five, then thirty, then thirty one. The total is thirty one rupees.

• Total = Rs 27

Here is a common mistake. Do not count coins as one each. A ten rupee coin is worth ten, not one! Three coins of five rupees are not three rupees. Five, ten, fifteen. They are worth fifteen rupees.

• Coin count is not money value

Now real life. You go to a shop to buy a pencil that costs twelve rupees.

You can pay with one ten rupee coin and one two rupee coin. Ten plus two makes twelve.

There is often more than one way to pay. Five, five and two also make twelve rupees! Quiz time! Look at the coins and pick the right total. Ten plus five is fifteen. Add two more, seventeen. Add two more, nineteen. Which total is right?

• 5 + 5 + 2 = 12 too

To count money: start with the biggest coin, add the rest one by one, and say the total.

• Biggest first, add one by one