32.--THE EXCURSION TICKET PUZZLE.
Nineteen shillings and ninepence may be paid in 458,908,622 different
ways.
I do not propose to give my method of solution. Any such explanation
would occupy an amount of space out of proportion to its interest or
value. If I could give within reasonable limits a general solution for
all money payments, I would strain a point to find room; but such a
solution would be extremely complex and cumbersome, and I do not
consider it worth the labour of working out.
Just to give an idea of what such a solution would involve, I will
merely say that I find that, dealing only with those sums of money that
are multiples of threepence, if we only use bronze coins any sum can be
paid in (n + 1) squared ways where n always represents the number of
pence. If threepenny-pieces are admitted, there are
2n cubed + 15n squared + 33n
--------------------- + 1 ways.
18
If sixpences are also used there are
n^{4} + 22n cubed + 159n squared + 414n + 216
---------------------------------
216
ways, when the sum is a multiple of sixpence, and the constant, 216,
changes to 324 when the money is not such a multiple. And so the
formulas increase in complexity in an accelerating ratio as we go on to
the other coins.
I will, however, add an interesting little table of the possible ways of
changing our current coins which I believe has never been given in a
book before. Change may be given for a
Farthing in 0 way.
Halfpenny in 1 way.
Penny in 3 ways.
Threepenny-piece in 16 ways.
Sixpence in 66 ways.
Shilling in 402 ways.
Florin in 3,818 ways.
Half-crown in 8,709 ways.
Double florin in 60,239 ways.
Crown in 166,651 ways.
Half-sovereign in 6,261,622 ways.
Sovereign in 500,291,833 ways.
It is a little surprising to find that a sovereign may be changed in
over five hundred million different ways. But I have no doubt as to the
correctness of my figures.
33.--A PUZZLE IN REVERSALS.
(i) L13. (2) L23, 19s. 11d. The words "the number of pounds exceeds that
of the pence" exclude such sums of money as L2, 16s. 2d. and all sums
under L1.
34.--THE GROCER AND DRAPER.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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