THE EXCURSION TICKET PUZZLE.—solution

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)2 ways where n always represents the number of pence. If threepenny-pieces are admitted, there are

2n3+15n2+33n  + 1
18

ways. If sixpences are also used there are

n4+22n3+159n2+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.

 

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