[seqfan] Re: US money puzzle (was "Dividing the sum of...")

[Jack Brennen]

Forgot to add, I paid for the candy with the smallest bill
possible.  :)

Jack Brennen wrote:
> Cute little puzzle; probably requires computer search to
> find the answer in any reasonable time...
> 
> I started the day with $1200 US currency in my pocket, no coins,
> just bills.
> 
> I went to the market and bought a small package of candy.  I
> paid for the candy with a single bill.  The clerk made change
> in the most efficient way, giving me back two coins.
> 
> After my little shopping trip, I gave all of my remaining
> currency including the two coins, one bill/coin at a time, to my
> daughter who is practicing arithmetic.  After each bill/coin,
> she calculated the average value of each piece of currency that
> I had given her.  At every step, including after all of the
> money had been given, she found that the average was a whole
> number of cents.
> 
> How much did I pay for the candy?
> 
> 
> (For the benefit of non-US residents, circulating denominations
> of bills include $100, $50, $20, $10, $5, $2, and $1.  Circulating
> coins include $1, $0.50, $0.25, $0.10, $0.05, and $0.01.  And a
> small package of candy would certainly be less than $10.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
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