Ray's New Practical Arithmetic · Art. 202 · Unit 19: Exchange
97. Foreign exchange: pounds, francs and marks
Goal: Your child changes English, French and German money to dollars and back, using the 1877 rates of exchange.
You'll need
- Paper and pencil, or a slate or small whiteboard
What's in the book
Page 262 explains foreign bills (Art. 202) and English money. Page 263 covers French, German and Canadian money and the par of exchange, and page 264 works two examples with problems 3–8. Answers are printed.
The lesson, step by step
Warm-up
Ask: Have you ever seen money from another country? Why can't you spend it here?
Old money note
The unit of English money is the pound sterling.
4 farthings = 1 penny (d.), 12 pence = 1 shilling (s.), 20 shillings = 1 pound (£). Britain used this system until 1971.
The franc was divided into 100 centimes.
The unit of German money is the mark, which is divided into 100 pennies (pfennige).
The par value of the pound is $4.8665.
Work the book's example
What will a sight bill on London, for £500 10s., cost in New York, exchange being at $4.87?
10 s. = £.5, so the bill is £500.5. Then $4.87 × 500.5 = $2437.44 (to the nearest cent).
The other direction
How large a bill on London can be bought for $1808.04, exchange being at $4.88?
$1808.04 ÷ 4.88 = 370 with a remainder; turn the remainder into shillings (× 20): £370 10s.
Guided practice
Do these together:
What will a bill on Paris cost for 1290 francs, exchange being 5 fr. 15 centimes to $1?
What will a bill on Berlin cost for 12680 reichsmarks, exchange being $.97 per 4 reichsmarks?
Independent practice and check
Your child works the remaining problems 3–8 on page 264. The book prints the answer at the end of each problem line. Have your child cover the answers with a strip of paper, work the problem, then slide the strip down to check.
Tip
French exchange was quoted the other way round: so many francs to one dollar. So to find the cost in dollars, divide the francs by the rate.