The Broken Coins

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

math

A man had three coins--a sovereign, a shilling, and a penny--and he found that exactly the same fraction of each coin had been broken away. Now, assuming that the original intrinsic value of these coins was the same as their nominal value--that is, that the sovereign was worth a pound, the shilling worth a shilling, and the penny worth a penny--what proportion of each coin has been lost if the value of the three remaining fragments is exactly one pound?

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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