A Post-office Perplexity

Unreviewed import — a classic from the public domain; its solution has not been machine-checked yet.

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In every business of life we are occasionally perplexed by some chance question that for the moment staggers us. I quite pitied a young lady in a branch post-office when a gentleman entered and deposited a crown on the counter with this request: "Please give me some twopenny stamps, six times as many penny stamps, and make up the rest of the money in twopence-halfpenny stamps." For a moment she seemed bewildered, then her brain cleared, and with a smile she handed over stamps in exact fulfilment of the order. How long would it have taken you to think it out?

Solution

Commit an attempt to unseal the proof. Write your answer — right or wrong, thinking it through is the point.

Solution

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