The App of the Day Coinsnap

You may have some money on your bedroom dresser, but it could be a lot more than you think.

  Like many people, I have a basket on my dresser where I toss any loose change. You can trade it in for cash at the bank or a coin exchange, but this app called “Coinsnap Value Guide” can show you if that dime is worth more than 10 cents.

Coinsnap was released last fall. It shows the collector values of pennies, dimes, quarters and other coins. But instead of just a list, Coinsnap uses the phone’s camera to see what you’ve got.

Snap a photo of the coin’s front and back. The app determines the date and where the coin was minted which can be pretty important to a collector.

In a snap, you’ll see all of that information plus, whether the coin is worth more than you thought. 

Common coins are at face value of course, but you might run across something more valuable. I scanned a random penny from my basket of coins. It is from 1986. It wouldn’t buy anything at the store but Coinsnap shows the right collector would value the coin at $3.90. On that page Coinsnap also showed expensive and rare varieties of the coin. The 1955 doubled-die Lincoln penny is worth as much as $2,000. 

The Coinsnap app also shows what old coins made of solid silver are worth if melted down. 

It’s an easy app to use and you can scan, or snap hundreds of coins in minutes and add them to your collection. 

One thing I wish the app did was put a value on your total collection of coins. Maybe that’ll come in an update. The app is only a few months old. It’s free to download but requires a subscription that’s $30 a year. Or, if you’ve got a certain Buffalo Nickel, the annual subscription is just 5 cents.