Euro banknotes and coins

Coins and banknotes are so everyday that sometimes we don’t realize the large amount of mathematics behind them. We can learn to use decimals, add, subtract, multiply, composition and decomposition of numbers, etc.

Therefore, in this article we will see euro coins and banknotes, the equivalences between euro banknotes and coins, euro coins and banknotes and decimals, and you will see how problems with euro coins and banknotes are solved step by step. .

euro coins

As you know, coins are pieces of copper, silver, gold or other metal, with a regularly circular shape, that have been minted by the issuing authority to accredit their value and legitimacy.

Euro coins, as well as banknotes, are issued by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the national central banks of the Euro Zone. In practice, it is only the national central banks that physically issue euro coins and banknotes.

Do you want to know what euro coins are?

Well, here we present the 8 euro coins so that you know them all, although you have probably seen some of them:

These are some characteristics of euro coins:

The coins of one, two and five cents are copper colored and the material they are made of is copper-coated steel.

The coins of ten, twenty and fifty cents they are colored goldenand are made in Nordic Gold.

The coins of one euro are silver on the inside and gold on the outside. The interior is made of three layers: copper-nickel, nickel, nickel-copper; while the exterior is made of nickel-brass.

The coins of two euros are gold on the inside and silver on the outside. The interior is made of three layers: nickel-brass, nickel, brass-nickel; while the exterior is made of copper-nickel.

Types of Euro banknotes

The 7 euro banknotes, also issued by the ECB and the national central banks, have different denominations. Get to know them all here:

These are some Curiosities about euro bills:

Euro banknotes have serial numbers that start with a letter and are followed by 11 figures. The letter with which the series begins allows us to know the country in which that banknote was issued. For example, banknotes starting with the letter V have been printed in Spain, while those starting with the letter N were printed in Austria.

Euro banknotes do not have portraits of historical figures, as most banknotes in the world do. This was decided by Robert Kalina, who is the designer of the euro banknotes, in order to make them different from those that exist in the rest of the world.
The so-called Eurion constellation appears on euro banknotes.which is nothing more than a dot pattern that does not allow the bills to be reprinted or scanned.

Equivalences between euro bills and coins

Let’s look at some equivalences between euro bills and coins:

10 euro cent coins are equivalent to 1 euro.

Because 10 x 0.1 = 1

4 coins of 50 euro cents are equivalent to 1 coin of 2 euros.

Well 4 x 0.5 = 2

20 50 cent coins are equivalent to 1 10 bill.

Because 20 x 0.5 = 10

20 5 euro bills are equivalent to 1 100 euro bill.

Because 20 x 5 = 100

4 50 euro bills are equivalent to 1 200 euro bill.

Because 4 x 50 = 200

25 20 euro bills are equivalent to 1 500 euro bill.

Because 25 x 20 = 500

There are many combinations to make equivalences between euro bills and coins. You can practice to see how many equivalences you can prove.

Euro banknotes and coins and decimal numbers

To pay at the supermarket, shopping center or gas station we often use bills and coins.

When paying for a product or service, we give the person who collects an amount of money that may be equal to or greater than the price of the good we need to acquire.

When the amount of money we give is greater than the price of the product or service, then they give us the change, which is the money left over when making a payment.

Let’s see how we could pay for some products depending on the bills and coins we have.

A person goes to the market and buys 1 kilogram of wheat flour for €0.75, 500 grams of chicken nuggets for €2.4 and 1 liter of extra virgin olive oil for €4.72.

Let’s calculate the total cost of these 3 products. For this we will add 0.75 +2.4 +7.72 €.

The cost of the 3 products is €7.87.

Now let’s look at two different combinations of canceling this amount:

We received a change of €2.13.

We can pay exactly, it would look like this:

We have seen two different ways to pay for the kilogram of flour, the 500 grams of chicken nuggets and the liter of extra virgin olive oil.

Problems with euro bills and coins

In everyday life there are many situations that are related to coins and banknotes, so knowing how to operate with them is essential so that we can solve the problems that we face daily.

Juan tells Simón, if I add 300 euros to the money I have right now, I would get 700 euros. How much money does Juan Pablo have at this moment?

Let’s see a way to represent this situation:

To answer this question we look for a number that added with 300 gives us 700, that number is 400. Also, we can subtract 700 – 300 = 400. So, The initial amount of money that Juan Pablo has is 400 euros.

A bank teller delivers €1 and €0.1 coins, and €10 and €100 bills, according to what customers request. The cashier always hands out the smallest amount of bills and coins possible. If a person has asked the cashier for €4,271.20, how many bills and how many coins of each type did the cashier give them?

To answer this question, we are going to additively decompose the number €4,271.20. Let’s see:

4,271.20 = 4,000 + 200 + 70 + 1 + 0.2

= 40 x 100 + 2 x 100 + 7 x 10 + 1 + 0.1 + 0.1

After additively decomposing the number 4,271.20 we are left with: 42 groups of 100 either 42 bills of 100
7 groups of 10 either 7 bills of 10
1 group of 1 or 1 coin of 1
2 groups of 0.1 either 2 of coins €0.1

We conclude that the cashier gives the person 42 €100 notes, 7 €10 notes, 1 €1 coin and 2 10 euro cent coins.

Below, we leave you these resources so you can practice:

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euro coins

euro bills

Curiosities about euro coins and notes

Equivalences between euro bills and coins

Euros and decimal numbers

The change or returns in purchases