Coin chart
A coin chart shows each US coin with its value: a penny is 1 cent, a nickel 5 cents, a dime 10 cents and a quarter 25 cents. This one draws the coins at their real size and shows how many of each make a dollar.
Free printable PDF, 1st grade to 2nd grade.
One page, black and white, prints the same every time.
What is on the sheet
The coins
| Coin | Value | The same as |
|---|---|---|
| Penny | 1¢, or $0.01 | 1 cent |
| Nickel | 5¢, or $0.05 | 5 pennies |
| Dime | 10¢, or $0.10 | 2 nickels, or 10 pennies |
| Quarter | 25¢, or $0.25 | 2 dimes and 1 nickel, or 5 nickels |
| One dollar | 100¢, or $1.00 | 4 quarters |
Making a dollar
| Coin | Count by | Coins in one dollar |
|---|---|---|
| Pennies | 1s | 100 pennies |
| Nickels | 5s | 20 nickels |
| Dimes | 10s | 10 dimes |
| Quarters | 25s | 4 quarters |
Telling the coins apart
Size does not follow value. The dime is the smallest coin and is worth more than the bigger penny and nickel, which is the first thing children get wrong. Printed at 100%, the coins on the chart are their real size, so a child can lay a real coin on top of each one and see it match. The penny is shaded because it is the only copper coin. The dime and the quarter have a ring for their ridged edges, which the penny and nickel do not have.
Each coin on the chart shows its value in cents. Real coins do not show cents, so it helps to hold up a real one and ask which coin on the chart it matches.
Counting coins
Counting money is skip counting. Count quarters by 25s, dimes by 10s, nickels by 5s and pennies by 1s, and start with the coin worth the most. The second table shows where each count reaches one dollar. Second grade solves problems with dollars and cents (CCSS 2.MD.C.8); many 1st grade programs start naming the coins earlier.
Common questions
- Why is there no half dollar or dollar coin?
- Both still exist, but children rarely see them, and the elementary standard covers the penny, nickel, dime and quarter. The dollar is on the chart as a value, since four quarters make one.
- How do you write money in cents and in dollars?
- The cent sign goes after the number and the dollar sign goes before it, with a decimal point: 25¢ is $0.25, and 100¢ is $1.00.