Skill: Compare money amounts

Explanation and Free Practice Resources

Determine whether one monetary amount is greater than, less than, or equal to another by interpreting collections of pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollar bills and reading dollar-and-cent notation. Comparison depends on total value—not the number or type of coins alone—and includes recognizing equivalent combinations; it does not extend to general decimal comparison or more advanced monetary calculations.

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Detailed Explanation: Compare money amounts

To compare money amounts:

Find the value of each coin or bill.
Add the values in each group.
Compare the totals.
Use $>$ for greater than, $<$ for less than, or $=$ for equal to.

Example: Which is greater?

Group A: 2 quarters, 1 dime, and 3 pennies
Group B: 1 quarter, 3 dimes, and 3 pennies

Step 1: Find each group’s total.

Group A:

25\text{¢}+25\text{¢}+10\text{¢}+1\text{¢}+1\text{¢}+1\text{¢}=63\text{¢}

Group B:

25\text{¢}+10\text{¢}+10\text{¢}+10\text{¢}+1\text{¢}+1\text{¢}+1\text{¢}=58\text{¢}

Step 2: Compare the totals.

Since $63\text{¢}$ is greater than $58\text{¢}$ :

63\text{¢}>58\text{¢}

So, Group A has more money. Its amount is $0.63$ , and Group B’s amount is $0.58$ . Always compare the total value, not just the number of coins.

Learn by doing: Compare money amounts

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Coin Math - Compare Coins to Amount, Above a Dollar - Dollar, Dimes, Quarters

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Units Teaching This Skill

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