A CHAIN PUZZLE

This is a puzzle based on a pretty little idea first dealt with by the late Mr. Sam Loyd. A man had nine pieces of chain, as shown in the illustration. He wanted to join these fifty links into one endless chain. It will cost a penny to open any link and twopence to weld a link together again, but he could buy a new endless chain of the same character and quality for `2`s. `2`d. What was the cheapest course for him to adopt? Unless the reader is cunning he may find himself a good way out in his answer.