Free printable money chart
Grades K–4What every US coin and bill is worth, how to count a handful of them, and how to write the answer. Print it for the wall, or add coins to the live counter below and watch the total three ways at once.
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Coin values, and a counter to practice with
Every US coin and bill with what it is worth in cents and in dollars. Add some with the plus buttons and the total appears underneath in dollars, in cents, and in words — the three forms a child has to move between constantly and rarely sees side by side.
The words readout is the one worth watching. Writing $1.37 is easy to fake; saying one dollar and thirty-seven cents while looking at the digits is what shows a child has understood that the dot separates two different units.
Then use the make-an-amount buttons. Making 99¢ is a genuinely good problem — there are dozens of ways to do it and only one that uses the fewest coins, and hunting for it teaches counting on from the largest coin far better than a worksheet does.
| Coin or bill | Cents | Dollars | How many |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1¢Penny | 1¢ | $0.01 | 0 |
| 5¢Nickel | 5¢ | $0.05 | 0 |
| 10¢Dime | 10¢ | $0.10 | 0 |
| 25¢Quarter | 25¢ | $0.25 | 0 |
| 50¢Half dollar | 50¢ | $0.50 | 0 |
| 100¢Dollar bill | 100¢ | $1.00 | 0 |
| 500¢Five dollars | 500¢ | $5.00 | 0 |
| 1000¢Ten dollars | 1000¢ | $10.00 | 0 |
- In dollars
- $0.00
- In cents
- 0¢
- In words
- Nothing yet
Add coins with the plus buttons and watch the total three ways at once.
How to use this money chart at home
Use real coins alongside it. Money is one of the few topics where the manipulative is already in the house, and a printed picture of a quarter is a much weaker teacher than a quarter. Tip out a handful and sort them onto the chart before counting anything.
Sort before counting, every time. The habit of putting the biggest coins first is most of what makes counting mixed change possible, and it is a habit rather than a skill — it needs doing repeatedly rather than explaining once.
Let them pay for things. Handing over money in a shop and checking the change is worth more than any worksheet, partly because the amounts are real and partly because there is a stranger waiting, which concentrates the mind wonderfully.
Why money is harder than it looks
Every other counting task a child has met works by size or by ones. Money works by neither. A dime is physically smaller than a nickel and worth twice as much, and no amount of looking at it will reveal that — the values have to be known before the coins can be counted.
Then there are two units in play at once. Cents and dollars, with a decimal point between them, arriving years before decimals are taught as a topic. Children handle $1.37 by pattern-matching long before they understand it, which works right up until they have to add two amounts together.
And the names give nothing away. Penny, nickel, dime and quarter contain no clue to their values, unlike one, five, ten and twenty-five would. Only quarter helps, and only for a child who already knows fractions.
Counting on, and why it beats subtracting
Change is a subtraction problem, and almost nobody solves it that way. Working out change from $5.00 for something costing $3.40 by borrowing across a decimal point is a genuinely awkward calculation for a nine-year-old.
Counting up is far easier. Sixty cents takes you from $3.40 to $4.00, then a dollar takes you to $5.00, so the change is $1.60. Each jump lands on a round number, which is why it can be done in your head.
This is worth teaching explicitly rather than hoping it turns up. It is the same skill as the counting-up method for subtraction generally, and money is the most natural place to meet it because the round numbers are obvious — get to the next dollar first.
Where money usually goes wrong
Counting coins as ones. Six coins on the table, so six. This is where every child starts and it resolves once values are known, but it is worth recognizing as a stage rather than a mistake.
Losing the second decimal place. Writing $1.7 for a dollar seventy. Money always shows two digits after the point, and a child who writes one has not yet connected the second digit to the pennies.
Using both signs at once. Writing $75¢, which says seventy-five dollars and cents at the same time. Pick one: 75¢ or $0.75.
Counting in whatever order the coins are lying. Starting from a penny and jumping to a quarter and back means keeping a messy running total in your head, and children lose the thread halfway. Sorting first removes the problem rather than solving it.
After the chart goes up
A chart explains the idea but gives a child nothing to do. These do the rest.
- measurement at Mathify Kids — every topic in this area, sorted by grade.
- money worksheets — printable practice.
- comparing decimals worksheets — the next step once this is solid.
- add subtract decimals worksheets — more practice in the same area.
Everything at this level: Kindergarten math · Grade 1 math · Grade 2 math · Grade 3 math · Grade 4 math
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Questions parents ask
What are the US coin values?
A penny is 1¢, a nickel is 5¢, a dime is 10¢ and a quarter is 25¢. Half dollars at 50¢ exist but are rarely seen. The awkward part is that size does not follow value — a dime is smaller than both a nickel and a penny while being worth more than either, which is why children cannot work coins out by looking.
How do you count mixed coins?
Sort them largest first, then count on. Quarters, then dimes, then nickels, then pennies: 25, 50, 60, 70, 75, 76, 77. Starting with the biggest keeps the running total climbing in easy jumps. Children who count in the order the coins happen to be lying almost always lose track.
How do you write money amounts?
Under a dollar you can use the cent sign, as in 75¢. A dollar or more uses the dollar sign and a decimal point with exactly two digits after it, as in $1.37. You do not use both signs at once. Two digits after the point is the rule children forget most, writing $1.7 when they mean $1.70.
How do you work out change?
Count up from the price to the amount paid, rather than subtracting. From $3.40 to $5.00: sixty cents gets you to $4.00, then a dollar gets you to $5.00, so the change is $1.60. This is what shopkeepers actually do, and it is far easier than borrowing across a decimal point.
Why is a dime smaller than a nickel?
History rather than logic — dimes were once made of silver, which was worth more per gram than the nickel's metal, so less of it was needed. Children find this genuinely interesting, and it helps to know the sizes are not a puzzle they were supposed to solve.
What grade is this money chart for?
Kindergarten through Grade 4. Recognizing and naming coins comes first, counting like coins around Grade 1, mixed coins and writing amounts in Grade 2, and making change by Grade 3 or 4.
Is this money chart free to print?
Yes. Open it full size and print as many copies as you need for home or a classroom, with no account and no watermark. Reselling it or re-hosting the file elsewhere is not allowed — link to this page instead.