Counting Mixed Coins to Find Total Value

Khan Academy

This educational video provides a step-by-step tutorial on how to count mixed collections of United States coins to determine their total monetary value. Through two distinct examples, the narrator demonstrates how to identify different coins—quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies—by looking at both their "heads" and "tails" sides. The video guides viewers through the process of assigning values to each coin and using addition strategies to find the sum. The content explores key themes of coin recognition, skip counting, and multi-digit addition. A significant conceptual takeaway appears at the end of the video, where the narrator compares the two examples to demonstrate that having a higher quantity of coins does not necessarily equate to having a higher monetary value. This addresses a common developmental misconception among young learners regarding quantity versus value. For classroom application, this video is an excellent tool for reinforcing money math skills in early elementary grades. It visually supports students who are transitioning from recognizing individual coins to adding mixed values. Teachers can use the pause points to allow students to calculate totals independently before seeing the solution, or use the final comparison as a launchpad for a discussion about why specific denominations matter more than the physical number of coins.