Sorry, Murray, right idea but wrong. Puzzle cannot be solved as written.
Suppose the father asks for $0? The way the problem is worded, there must be
an envelope containing no money!

Therefore, I believe it takes eleven envelopes to accomplish.

> ----------
> From:         Murray Charters[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Reply To:     [log in to unmask]
> Sent:         Sunday, January 16, 2000 8:10 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: Is anyone on PIE bored? [sparkle] Riddle #8
>
> Hi Bonnie,
> I think I can answer this even tho' here in Canada the $1.00 paper note
> has been replaced with a coin called the "Loonie"...
>
> On 16 Jan 00 at 15:12, Bonnie Rowley wrote:
> > He used a shredder & then wrote IOU's.
> >
> Nope.... see below...
> >
> > In a message dated 1/16/00 9:00:08 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> > [log in to unmask] writes:
> >
> > > A man told his son that he would give him $1000 if he could accomplish
> the
> > >  following task. The father gave his son ten envelopes and a thousand
> > >  dollars, all in one dollar bills. He told his son, "Place the money
> in the
> > >  envelopes in such a manner that no matter what number of dollars I
> ask for,
> > >  you can give me one or more of the envelopes, containing the exact
> amount I
> > >  asked for without having to open any of the envelopes. If you can do
> this,
> > >  you will keep the $1000."
> > >
> > >  When the father asked for a sum of money, the son was able to give
> him
> > >  envelopes containing the exact amount of money asked for. How did the
> son
> > >  distribute the money among the ten envelopes?
> > >
>
> The answer is elementary to anyone who deals in binary numbers since
> the 1's (or 0's) for the first ten positions in binary represent ANY
> number from zero to 1023 in decimal.  (1024 possible combinations...)
>
> The ten envelopes therefore contained.......
> 1.) One dollar
> 2.) Two dollars
> 3.) Four dollars
> 4.) Eight dollars
> 5.) Sixteen dollars
> 6.) Thirty-two dollars
> 7.) Sixty-four dollars
> 8.) One hundred and twenty-eight dollars
> 9.) Two hundred and fifty-six dollars
> 10.) The remaining Four hundred and eighty-nine dollars
>
> Supposing the father had asked for $800, as an example, the son would
> then give him envelopes 10; 9; 6; 5; 3; 2; & 1...
>
> 489 + 256 + 32 + 16 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 800
>
> Do I get to keep da money???????
>
> All the best ............ murray
> [log in to unmask]
>