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Sandy Wood
Brain Game: No-Change Change
by Sandy Wood - January 9, 2009 - 7:30 AM

bloghead_braingames.jpg

Friday = payday for many of us, so it’s a good time to offer a Brain Game all about cold, hard cash. Good luck!

Your pocket is stuffed with U.S. currency,
but no coins and no $100 (or higher) bills.

Given this information, what is the
largest amount of money your pocket
could hold without being able to give
exact change for a $100 bill, a $50 bill,
a $20 bill, a $10 bill, or a $5 bill?

Here is the SOLUTION.

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Comments (6)

  1. I think I was too clever by half for that one. I came up with $8 – 4 $2 bills. Exact change of a $10 bill can be another $10 bill after all.

    posted by erak on 1-9-2009 at 10:11 am

  2. Aaahhh you got me. I was thinking $89 because I thought we had to include all bills. After all, 2 20s + 1 10 = 50, so I have 4 $1s, 1 $5, 1 $10, 1 $20, 1 $50. Dern.

    Erak: Nice try, but 5 $1 bills make change for a $5 bill though…

    posted by Bri on 1-9-2009 at 10:39 am

  3. I got Erik’s answer as well – how is a $5 bill not considered exact change for a $5 bill? I guess I see how it wouldn’t be exchanging it for anything different, and yet that’s kinda the point.

    posted by M on 1-9-2009 at 2:33 pm

  4. Just to be safe, I checked it in the American Heritage Dictionary. “Change” in this sense is a verb defined as “To give or receive the equivalent of (money) in lower denominations or in foreign currency.”

    Makes sense, I think. Giving one $5 bill for another isn’t getting change; it’s just swapping.

    Of course, this all reminds me of:

    http://www.hulu.com/watch/4258/saturday-night-live-first-citywide-change-bank-1

    posted by Sandy Wood on 1-9-2009 at 2:39 pm

  5. wow… I thought $189…

    If I had 4 – $1, 1-$5, 1-$10, 1-$20, 1-$50, and 1-$100…

    I couldn’t give change for any of those, right? Am I missing something here?

    posted by kramer on 1-9-2009 at 11:49 pm

  6. Kramer, the instruction said “no $100 or higher”

    posted by WillieO on 1-11-2009 at 2:21 pm

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