Counting Money: Coins, Dollars and Cents

Quick answer

A penny is worth 1 cent, a nickel 5 cents, a dime 10 cents and a quarter 25 cents, and a dollar is 100 cents. Size does not tell value: the dime is the smallest coin but is worth more than a penny or a nickel. To count mixed coins, start with the ones worth the most and skip-count down: 2 quarters, 1 dime and 3 pennies are 25, 50, 60, 61, 62, 63 — 63 cents. Cents are written with the ¢ sign and dollars with the dollar sign.

What you'll learn

Name coins and bills and tell what each is worth
Count a mix of coins by starting with the ones worth the most
Write amounts with the ¢ and dollar signs and solve money word problems

Coins and their values

Here are the four coins, drawn to their real sizes compared with each other.

A penny, a nickel, a dime and a quarter

Coin	Worth
penny	$1$ cent, written 1¢
nickel	$5$ cents, written 5¢
dime	$10$ cents, written 10¢
quarter	$25$ cents, written 25¢

A dollar is worth $100$ cents. It is written $1.

Look at the dime. It is the smallest coin, but it is worth more than a penny or a nickel. A coin’s value does not come from its size.

Count mixed coins

Sort the coins. Start with the ones worth the most, and skip-count.

Two quarters, a dime and three pennies

Count the quarters by $25$ s: $25$ , $50$ . Then the dime: $60$ . Then the pennies by ones: $61$ , $62$ , $63$ .

That is 63¢.

Why start with the coins worth the most

The order you count in does not change the total. Starting big makes the count shorter: two big jumps of $25$ get you to $50$ at once, and the small coins finish the count.

It also keeps the skip-counting simple. Counting by $25$ s, then $10$ s, then $5$ s, then ones means you only switch once for each kind of coin.

Dollars

A dollar is $100$ cents. Four quarters make a dollar: $25$ , $50$ , $75$ , $100$ . Ten dimes make a dollar too.

Whole dollars are written with the dollar sign in front: $1, $5, $20. Dollars add like any other numbers. If Ben has $3 and gets $5 more, he has $8.

Worked examples

Common mistakes

Practice problems

How much money is this?

How much money?

Answer

40¢

Full solution

Dimes by $10$ s: $10$ , $20$ , $30$ . Nickels by $5$ s: $35$ , $40$ .
How many pennies are worth the same as a quarter?

Answer

$25$

Full solution

A quarter is 25¢, and each penny is 1¢.
How much money is this?

How much money?

Answer

67¢

Full solution

$25$ , $50$ ; dime: $60$ ; nickel: $65$ ; pennies: $66$ , $67$ .
How many quarters make a dollar?

Answer

$4$

Full solution

Count by $25$ s to $100$ : $25$ , $50$ , $75$ , $100$ . That is $4$ quarters.
A sticker costs 20¢. Leo pays with a quarter. How much change does he get?

Answer

5¢

Full solution

$25 - 20 = 5$ . His change is 5¢, one nickel.
Mia has $4. She earns $6 more. How many dollars does she have now?

Answer

$10

Full solution

Dollars add like any numbers: $4 + 6 = 10$ .
Show 30¢ with exactly three coins.

Answer

Three dimes

Full solution

$10 + 10 + 10 = 30$ . (A quarter and a nickel is only two coins.)
Sam has 3 quarters. Jo has 8 dimes. Who has more money?

Answer

Jo

Full solution

Sam: $25 + 25 + 25 = 75$ cents. Jo: $8$ dimes are $80$ cents. $80$ is more than $75$ .
A toy costs 85¢. Ana has 60¢. How much more does she need?

Answer

25¢

Full solution

$85 - 60 = 25$ . She needs 25¢ more, one quarter.
Ty has a dime and two nickels. He says he has more money than Eve, who has one quarter, because he has more coins. What went wrong?

Hint

Count the cents, not the coins.

Answer

He has only 20¢, and Eve has 25¢. Eve has more.

Full solution

Ty: $10 + 5 + 5 = 20$ cents. Eve: $25$ cents.

More coins does not mean more money. What matters is what each coin is worth.

Frequently asked questions

How much is each coin worth?

A penny is 1 cent, a nickel 5 cents, a dime 10 cents and a quarter 25 cents.

How many cents are in a dollar?

100. That is 4 quarters, 10 dimes, 20 nickels or 100 pennies.

What is the fastest way to count coins?

Sort them and start with the coins worth the most. Count quarters by 25s, then dimes by 10s, nickels by 5s and pennies by 1s.

Why is a dime worth more than a nickel if it is smaller?

A coin's value is set by what it stands for, not by its size. A dime stands for 10 cents and a nickel for 5.

How do I write 45 cents?

As 45¢. Whole dollars use the dollar sign in front, as in a three-dollar price.

What to learn next

Picture Graphs, Bar Graphs and Line PlotsSecond grade data: measure objects and show the lengths on a line plot, draw picture graphs and bar graphs with up to four groups, and answer questions from them.

Standards alignment

This lesson covers the following Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.MD.C.8Measurement and DataSolve word problems involving dollar bills, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies, using $ and ¢ symbols appropriately.

For teachersPrint problems onlyTick to print a blank worksheet; leave it clear to print the lesson with the full answer key.

Quick answer

What you'll learn

Coins and their values

Count mixed coins

Why start with the coins worth the most

Dollars

Worked examples

Common mistakes

Practice problems

Frequently asked questions

How much is each coin worth?

How many cents are in a dollar?

What is the fastest way to count coins?

Why is a dime worth more than a nickel if it is smaller?

How do I write 45 cents?

What to learn next

Standards alignment

More Early Math lessons