The Most Coins and No Ride

Simple math challenge in making change: what's the largest amount of change you can have and still not make exact change for a dollar? $1.19 – four dimes, four pennies, and three quarters. Simple math challenge Charlie style: what's the largest amount of change (number of coins and value) you can have and still not get a full fare ride on the subway? $1.97. At least we're pretty sure. Technically, value-wise, you can get up to $1.99 with a combination of seven quarters two dimes and four pennies. To have the largest value and number of coins it'd be five quarters, six dimes, one nickel, and seven pennies. Just a reminder - a full fare is $2. Nineteen coins is the limit for a single transaction at the fare vending machines.

People keep coming up with all sorts of ways to break the new system, the latest one we've heard about came from Ric Kahn in yesterday's globe. Kahn uncovered the limits of the new fare vending machines: 19 coins at one time, 14 bills (including $1s, $5s, $10s, and $20s) at once. The bills allow you to exceed the $100 limit on a CharlieCard – and we have no idea what happens if you try to load five $20s into the machine, and don't have a desire for a $100 CharlieCard (or the likely $100 in Sacagawea Dollars we'd get back if we tried to cancel the transaction).

Check the math here, please. And let us know your new favorite limitation of the system since the fare increase/Charlie went into effect.