Activity (Process)

Problem-Solving Strategy for Coin Word Problems

When solving a word problem that involves coins of different types, the general seven-step problem-solving strategy is adapted with organizational tools specific to coin contexts. The revised steps are:

  1. Read the problem. Make sure all the words and ideas are understood. Determine which types of coins are involved.
    • Create a table to organize the information.
    • Label the columns: Type, Number, Value, Total Value.
    • List the types of coins.
    • Write in the value of each type of coin.
    • Write in the total value of all the coins.
  2. Identify what you are looking for.
  3. Name what you are looking for. Choose a variable to represent that quantity. Use variable expressions to represent the number of each type of coin and write them in the table. Multiply the number times the value to get the total value of each type of coin.
  4. Translate into an equation. It may be helpful to restate the problem in one sentence with all the important information. Then translate the sentence into an equation by adding the total values of all the types of coins.
  5. Solve the equation using good algebra techniques.
  6. Check the answer in the problem and make sure it makes sense.
  7. Answer the question with a complete sentence.

The key adaptations for coin problems are in Step 1 and Step 3: the four-column table keeps the coin types, their counts, their per-unit values, and their total values organized in one place, making it straightforward to build the equation in Step 4 by summing the entries in the Total Value column.

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Updated 2026-04-23

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