Money Weight Calculator
See how much a sum of money weighs for various types of currency, including banknotes (e.g. $100 bills) or coinage (e.g. pennies or quarters).
Currency Weight:
Weight of $1,000,000.00 in $100 Bills
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Joe is the creator of Inch Calculator and has over 20 years of experience in engineering and construction. He holds several degrees and certifications.
How to Calculate How Much Money Weighs
Did you know you can estimate the value of a pile of money if you know the denomination of the bills or coins? Every type of U.S.-minted coin and banknote has a standard weight. So, if you know the denomination and the weight of each coin or bill, you can use a formula to calculate how much the money is worth or calculate how heavy it is.
Step One: Find the Weight of Coins or Bills
To calculate the weight of money, you’ll need to know the weight of each coin or bill. If you know the denomination, you can find the weight in the chart below, which is based on details of U.S. currency provided by the U.S. mint.[1]
The chart below shows the weight of currency in various denominations.
| Denominations | Weight |
|---|---|
| penny ($0.01) | 2.5 g |
| nickel ($0.01) | 5 g |
| dime ($0.01) | 2.268 g |
| quarter ($0.01) | 5.67 g |
| half dollar ($0.01) | 11.34 g |
| $1 coin ($0.01) | 8.1 g |
| banknote (any bill) | 1 g |
Each coin has a different weight, but all banknotes, regardless of value, weigh 1 gram each.[2]
Step Two: Multiply by the Number of Coins or Bills
Then, to calculate the total weight of the money, multiply the number of coins or bills by their respective weights. The result is the total weight of the currency.
total weight = coin weight × number of coins
So, the total weight is equal to the weight of each bill or coin times the total number of them.
For example, let’s estimate how much a million dollars in pennies weighs.
According to the U.S. Mint, a penny weighs 2.5 grams.[3]
Since there are 100 pennies in a dollar, the total number of pennies in $1,000,000 is 100,000,000. Hint: you can use our pennies to dollars calculator to figure this out!
Then, you can use the formula shown above to calculate the weight of $1 million.
2.5 g × 100,000,000¢ = 250,000,000 g
Thus, $1 million in pennies weighs 250,000,000 grams, which is equal to 551,156 lbs! You can use our grams to ounces converter to convert grams to pounds.
If you like working with currency, you might also be interested in our calculator to round to the nearest cent.
References
- U.S. Mint, Circulating Coins, https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coins-and-medals/circulating-coins
- U.S. Currency Education Program, Currency Facts, https://www.uscurrency.gov/about-us/currency-facts
- U.S. Mint, Penny, https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coins-and-medals/circulating-coins/penny