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Subj:.....The Chinese Cash Puzzle (S632)           From the book              "Mathematical Puzzles of Sam Loyd"            Edited by Martin Gardner            From: Dover Publications in 1959   What combination of coins will buy the puppy? The Chinese coined money thousands of years before the Christian era, but their inability to comprehend the fundamental principles of currency has led them at times into wild and experimental extravagances.  In the Flower Kingdom large transactions are paid in gold ingots, stamped with the date and name of the banker, but the currency of the country consists of taels or cash of fluctuating value. They made the tael thinner and thinner, until 2,000 of them piled together were less than three inches height. In like manner the common cash, which is a brass coin with a round, square, or triangular hole in the middle but little more than a mill of our money, is of variable thickness.  The Chinese compute their value by stringing them on a wire, so as to measure their height in chips or bits. Suppose that eleven coins with round holes are worth 15 bits, while eleven square ones are worth 16 bits, and eleven of triangular shape are worth 17 bits, tell how many round, square, and/or triangular pieces would exactly be required to purchase that fat little puppy dog, worth 11 bits.

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