Leo and Theo each had several $20 and $50 bills

Question

Leo and Theo each had several $20 and $50 bills. Leo gave Theo several of his $20 bills and got from him the same number of $50 bills, and after this exchange, the money was divided equally between the boys. If after that Theo gives Leo all six remaining $50 bills, each of the boys would have as much money as the other one had originally. How many $20 bills did Leo give Theo?

Answer 1

Leo and Theo have $20's and $50 bills,

Leo gives Theo some 20's and T gives L an equal number of 50s

at this point L and T each have an equal amount of money

then T gives all the remaining six 50's to L and finally they end up with the reverse of where they started.

how many 20s did L give T? -10?

in the end T gives L six 50's = 6x50 = $300 more for Leo which is the reverse of the original situation

that means originally Theo had $300 more than Leo

then Leo exchanges 20s for an equal number of 50s leaving Leo worse off, not equal to Theo

unless you allow negative numbers. Leo gives Theo minus ten 20s for minus ten 50s

Unless someone else can come up with another interpretation of the problem.

the answer would be a positive ten if it were Leo giving Theo the six 50s at the end. It's easy to mix up Leo and Theo, so there may just be a mistake like that in the problem, mis-copied or misprinted.