[Dragaera] The Desecrator (spoilers)

[Joshua Kronengold]

Kenneth Gorelick writes:
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>On Mar 8, 2011, at 8:04 PM, Jerry Alan Sayers wrote:
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>> Sean Whalen wrote:
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>>>   How can he pay half an Imperial in base 17?  Is this just a common approximation (usually 8 silver and 9 copper, or something)?
>> 
>> Cut the Imperial coin in half.  A common pre-modern/early modern way to make change.
>> 
>> Alternately, there is a half-Imperial denominated coin that does not perfectly break down into smaller amounts (except maybe a quarter-imperial coin) minted because it was more efficient (or more prestigious) to carry a small gold coin than a pocketful of silver ones.
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>> Or it's a common approximation.  :-)
>
>17 in base 17 is 10. So half of that is 5, isn't it?

ISWYDT.

No.

It's 8.888888888888888...

Like 2/3 in base 2 is .11111111111111111...  (yep! No thirds on a
standard computer representation; it's all approximation!)

-- 
     Joshua Kronengold (mneme at io.com) "Release the tera-  |\      _,,,--,,_  ,)
--^--port patents...and drop everything into the public  /,`.-'`'   -,  ;-;;'  
  /\\domain.  OPEN SOURCE."  "It's so scary when you say |,4-  ) )-,_ ) /\     
/-\\\it like that" -- Howard Taylor (Schlock Mercenary) '---''(_/--' (_/-'