How Much Does Coinstar Charge? Coinstar Fees, the 0% Option and the Silver to Pull Out First

Coinstar charges a fee only when you take cash: up to 15.9% of the total plus up to $0.99 a transaction, depending on the location, according to Coinstar’s own help page (checked October 31, 2026). An eGift card costs 0% at most US kiosks, and a charity donation costs you nothing. Before you pour, pull out any silver: one 1964 quarter holds about $9.77 of silver, more than the fee on a $50 jar.

Most coin jars hold nothing but everyday change, and the fee is the only question. But the jar that has been on the dresser since the 1960s is a different jar, and ten minutes of sorting is worth more than anything the machine will give you for it.

How much does Coinstar charge?

The fee depends on what you take out of the kiosk, not what you put in. Coinstar’s help page says cash “may include a service fee of up to 15.9% of the transaction amount plus a transaction fee of up to $0.99,” and that the fee is shown on the screen before the count begins. Some locations charge less, so read the screen before you pour. At the top rate:

The $0.99 is why small jars cost more as a share. On $25 it adds four points to the fee. Cash comes as a paper voucher you redeem at the store’s register the same day; Coinstar says it can’t replace a lost voucher.

How to use Coinstar for free

Coinstar offers two ways to skip the fee:

• An eGift card. Most US kiosks offer cards from more than 20 stores and restaurants with a 0% fee, though the fee can vary by retailer and location. The catch: you can’t swap the card for cash or for another brand, so pick a store you were going to spend money at anyway.
• A donation. You pay nothing, and the charity gets your total minus a processing fee Coinstar keeps: 10% for national charities and 7.5% for regional ones. Coinstar says the donation is tax deductible, so keep the receipt.

Outside Coinstar, many banks and credit unions count coins or accept rolled coins free for their own customers, and many hand out free coin wrappers. Policies vary from branch to branch, so call before you carry in a jar. Carrying the jar in costs more effort than the call: $100 in pennies weighs about 55 pounds.

Check your coin jar for silver first

Until 1965, US dimes, quarters and half dollars were 90% silver. Their silver is now worth far more than the number on the front, and a Coinstar kiosk pays you the number on the front, minus the fee. Here is what to pull out, with the silver in each at the $54.05 silver price of October 24, 2026:

Silver value is each coin’s pure silver times $54.05. The Eisenhower dollars sold in circulation were copper-nickel; only the S-mint collector versions are silver, and Coinstar says it can’t accept them.

The arithmetic is lopsided. Hand Coinstar one silver quarter and it counts it as 25 cents; keep it and you keep $9.77 of silver. That one coin is worth more than the fee on a $53 jar. A single silver half dollar covers the fee on about $113 of coins.

Coinstar’s list of coins it can’t accept doesn’t include 90% silver dimes and quarters, so don’t count on the machine to spit them back out. Sort first.

How to sort a coin jar in ten minutes

1. Pour the jar onto a towel so nothing rolls away, and pull out every half dollar and dollar coin first. They are big, few, and the most valuable if silver.
2. Look at the edges of the dimes and quarters. A coin from 1965 on shows a copper stripe around the edge. No stripe means silver-gray all the way through, so set it aside and check the date.
3. Check the nickels for 1942 to 1945 with a large letter above Monticello on the back. Those are war nickels, 35% silver.
4. Pull 1943 steel pennies (gray, and they stick to a magnet). Coinstar says it can’t accept them. Wheat pennies, 1909 to 1958, are worth keeping for a few cents each.
5. Remove anything foreign, sticky or damaged, plus keys and jewelry, which can jam the kiosk.

Not sure about a coin? Is My Coin Silver? takes the coin and the year and says whether it is silver and what the silver is worth today. A kitchen scale helps too: a silver quarter weighs 6.25 grams and a modern one 5.67 (see US coin weights).

What about copper pennies?

Pennies dated 1982 and earlier are mostly copper, worth about 4.3 cents each as metal at September 2026 copper prices. Melting pennies is against the law in the US, though, so for most people a copper penny is worth exactly one cent at Coinstar or anywhere else. The copper pennies guide covers which years are which.

A fair objection: is ten minutes of sorting worth it?

For most jars, no silver turns up. Silver coins left everyday change decades ago, once their metal was worth more than their face value, so a jar filled since 2000 is almost all clad coins and zinc pennies. The sorting pays when the jar is old: a grandparent’s coffee can, a jar from an estate, or rolls that sat in a drawer since the 1960s. For those, ten minutes is cheap, and one silver coin pays for the whole fee.

Outside the US

Coinstar also runs kiosks in Canada, the UK, Ireland and parts of the eurozone, and the fee there is shown on the screen before you start. The silver to look for is different in each country:

• Canada: dimes, quarters and halves dated 1967 and earlier are 80% silver; some 1967 and 1968 dimes and quarters are 50%.
• UK: coins dated 1946 and earlier are 50% silver, and 1919 and earlier sterling. They are no longer legal tender, so a kiosk won’t take them anyway.
• Australia: the round 50-cent coin of 1966 is 80% silver.

The full list, country by country, is in when did coins stop being silver?

Sources

• Fees, the 0% eGift card option, charity processing fees, coins Coinstar can’t accept, the $3,000 note and voucher rules: Coinstar Help Center, read October 31, 2026.
• Countries where Coinstar operates: Coinstar, Wikipedia.
• Silver content of US coins: this site’s junk silver guide and Kennedy half dollar guide. Silver at $54.05 on October 24, 2026: gold-api.com.
• Silver coins outside the US: when did coins stop being silver?

Worked out here, for checking: fee = 15.9% × amount + $0.99. Silver per coin × $54.05: dime 0.0723 oz, quarter 0.1808, half 0.3617, 40% half 0.1479, war nickel 0.0563, 40% Eisenhower dollar 0.3161. A silver quarter beats the fee on a jar of ($9.77 − $0.25 − $0.99) ÷ 0.159 = $53.65. $100 in pennies: 10,000 × 2.5 g = 25 kg, about 55 lb.

Questions people actually ask

How much does Coinstar charge?

If you take cash, Coinstar charges up to 15.9% of the total plus a transaction fee of up to $0.99, depending on the location, according to its help page (checked October 31, 2026). On $100 of coins that is up to $16.89. The fee is shown on the screen before the count starts.

Is there a way to use Coinstar for free?

Yes. Most US kiosks offer eGift cards from more than 20 stores and restaurants with a 0% fee, though it can vary by retailer and location. Donating to charity also costs you nothing; Coinstar keeps a 10% processing fee from national charities and 7.5% from regional ones.

Does Coinstar take silver coins?

Coinstar says it can't accept silver Eisenhower dollars, pure silver, commemorative coins or 1943 steel pennies, and they may not be returned. Its list doesn't include 90% silver dimes and quarters, so sort those out yourself: a 1964 or older quarter holds about $9.77 of silver at the October 24, 2026 price.

Should I check my coin jar for silver before using Coinstar?

If the jar is old, yes. Dimes, quarters and half dollars dated 1964 or earlier are 90% silver, 1965 to 1970 half dollars are 40%, and 1942 to 1945 nickels with a large mint mark above Monticello are 35%. One silver quarter is worth more than the Coinstar fee on a $50 jar.

Can I cash in coins at a bank for free?

Often, if you are a customer. Many banks and credit unions count coins or take rolled coins free for account holders and give out free coin wrappers, but policies vary by branch, so call first.

Is there a limit on how many coins Coinstar will take?

Coinstar says that if you have more than $3,000 in coins, you should call its customer service at 800-928-2274 for help.

Do I have to redeem a Coinstar voucher the same day?

Coinstar says to redeem a cash voucher at the store where it was issued, on the same day. It can't track, cancel or reissue a lost or stolen voucher.

Is a Coinstar donation tax deductible?

Coinstar says donations are tax deductible. Keep the receipt the kiosk prints.