Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Cut down four or five plastic cups to the height of the bottom half of a shoebox. Make sure each cup is cut the same size. Weigh the cups and write down the weight. Each cup's weight should be the same as the others.
Place the cups in a row down the center of the box. Fill in the sides of the box with wadded paper or cardboard to keep the cups in place.
Cut four or five holes spaced evenly down the center of the lid of the shoebox. If you are not counting half dollars, you only need four slots. Make sure each slot is above a separate cup.
Write the names of the coins above each slot: "penny," "nickel," "dime," "quarter" and "half-dollar." Below each slot, write the weight of a coin. A penny is 2.5 grams, a nickel is 5 grams, a dime is 2.68 grams, a quarter is 5.67 grams and a half-dollar is 11.34 grams, according to the U.S. Mint. Write the weight of a cup in the corner of the lid and place the lid on the box.
Place your change in the appropriate holes in the box. When the cups are full, or when you want to know how much change you have, weigh the cups one at a time on a small food scale, postal scale or any accurate gram scale.
Subtract the weight of the cup from the total weight, or tare the scale so the cup weight reads as "zero." Use a calculator to count the coins. Divide the weight on the scale by the weight of the coin. For example, if the cup of pennies weighs 180 grams, divide that amount by 2.5. The answer is 72, meaning you have 72 pennies.