How to Donate Foreign Coins to Charity: A Fast and Easy Guide

Posted by: Ian • 14 Sep 2025

That jar of foreign coins sitting on your shelf has more potential than you might realise. Instead of letting leftover holiday money gather dust, you can turn it into vital funds for the causes you care about. Our trusted foreign coins charity service makes it incredibly simple, fast, and is 100% guaranteed. There's no need to sort your coins; our process is completely hassle-free.

Turn Clutter into Meaningful Donations

We've all been there. You get back from a trip abroad with a pocketful of unfamiliar coins and notes that end up in a drawer or jar, completely forgotten. The big problem is that your local high street bank won’t exchange foreign coins, leaving that currency with very little practical value to you.

But when it's all collected together, this leftover foreign currency represents a huge, untapped source of funding for charities. Our service was built to bridge that gap. We’ve made it completely hassle-free; there’s no need to sort or count anything. Just gather all your foreign coins and notes—even old, obsolete currency—and send them our way.

A Trusted and Hassle-Free Process

We’ve built a solid reputation for being reliable and efficient, earning the trust of major UK organisations. Our partners include national charities, well-known supermarkets, airports, and even police forces, all of whom count on our secure process to convert foreign currency into valuable donations.

This established trust means you can feel confident that your contribution is handled professionally and with care. The whole process is incredibly straightforward:

Get Your Currency Together: Collect all your leftover foreign coins and banknotes, no matter how old they are or where they're from.
Send It Securely: Follow our simple postage instructions to send your collection to us.
We Handle Everything: Our experts get to work sorting, counting, and exchanging the currency for its full value.

The real power here lies in collective action. A single box of donated currency can make a surprising difference. For instance, organisations like the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) find that each collection box averages around £50 in value, which goes directly towards funding their essential services.

Ultimately, you get to declutter your home while making a genuine impact. We make sure the entire experience is fast, easy, and provides a guaranteed return for the cause you choose. If you're still wondering what to do with your old foreign coins, our guide offers even more practical advice.

Why Your Foreign Coins Matter So Much

It’s easy to write off that handful of leftover holiday money. A few stray euros, some Thai baht, maybe an old, obsolete coin… it all just feels like clutter in a drawer. On their own, they don't seem like much, but when you put them all together, they add up to a huge and often-missed source of funding for charities.

The big problem has always been logistics. Let's be honest, trying to exchange a few foreign coins and notes yourself is usually more hassle than it's worth. High street banks won't touch coins, and the exchange bureaus often have minimum transaction amounts, making it pointless to try and convert foreign coins and banknotes in small, mixed batches.

This headache isn’t just for individuals. It can be a massive burden for charities that receive these donations directly. Most simply don't have the time or resources to sort, count, and exchange huge volumes of mixed international currency. This is exactly where a specialist service like ours comes in.

Turning Hassle into High Impact

We take care of the whole messy process from start to finish. Our system is designed to be fast, easy, and hassle-free, taking the strain off both you and the charities you want to support.

No Sorting Needed: Just throw all your currency together. You absolutely don’t need to separate coins from notes or sort them by country.
All Currency Accepted: We take everything—current coins, modern banknotes, and even old, obsolete currency that’s no longer in circulation.
Guaranteed Process: Our service is trusted by some of the biggest UK brands, including major charities, supermarkets, airports, and even police forces who count on our secure and transparent system.

The UK has a strong culture of giving, but with traditional individual donations seeing a dip recently, finding new ways to fundraise is more important than ever. Foreign coin schemes offer a simple way for people to contribute, turning money that's essentially useless to them into vital support. You can read more about charitable giving trends on goodbox.com.

By using our service, you’re doing more than just clearing out a drawer. You're effortlessly turning forgotten shrapnel into a meaningful contribution, making sure its full value gets to the causes that need it, without any of the usual administrative faff.

How to Donate Your Leftover Currency

Ready to turn that jar of leftover holiday money into something truly meaningful? Getting started is refreshingly simple. We’ve designed our process to be as fast and easy as possible, cutting out all the usual hassle that might stop you from making a foreign coins charity donation.

Your first job is the fun part: the treasure hunt. Go through old travel bags, check that forgotten pot on the shelf, and have a good rummage through your desk drawers. The best bit? There's absolutely no need to sort anything. We really mean it. Just gather up all your foreign coins, current banknotes, and even obsolete currency like old Spanish pesetas or German marks and pop them all together.

Preparing Your Currency for Sending

Once you've got your currency hoard together, you just need to package it up securely. For smaller amounts, a sturdy padded envelope will do the trick. If you’ve got a hefty weight of coins—maybe from a group collection at work or school—a strong cardboard box is a much better bet. Just make sure to tape it up well so nothing escapes during transit.

You can send your package with complete confidence. Our process is trusted by major UK organisations, including police forces, for its security and reliability. We handle every package professionally from the moment it leaves your hands.

This quick graphic shows you the simple journey your currency takes, from your home to making a real difference.

As you can see, we’ve stripped back the process to make sure your donation is converted and put to work by charity programmes as efficiently as possible.

Completing the Hassle-Free Process

After packaging your currency, just follow the straightforward instructions on our website to post it to us. The moment we receive your collection, our expert team and specialised equipment take over. We handle all the counting, sorting, and admin needed to exchange foreign coins and notes.

The entire system is built on one key principle: maximum impact for minimal effort on your part. You don't need to identify currencies, check exchange rates, or worry about logistics. We provide a 100% guaranteed service that ensures the full value of your donation is realised.

The final step is the most rewarding one. We convert the whole collection into pounds sterling and make sure the funds get to your chosen charity. If you'd like to explore the different causes you can support, check out our guide on where you can donate foreign coins.

Amplify Your Impact with a Group Collection

While every personal donation makes a difference, you can create a much bigger wave of support by getting others involved. Organising a group collection is a brilliant way to multiply the value of all that forgotten currency, turning small, individual pots of coins into a significant donation for a cause you really care about.

It's a fantastic activity for a workplace, a school, or any community group. The idea is simple: you just set up a central spot where people can drop off their leftover holiday money.

Many local charities have shown just how effective this grassroots model can be. They actively collect old British and foreign coins all year round, using specialised services to convert foreign coins and banknotes into cash for their vital programmes. This simple act of collecting transforms giving into a shared, engaging experience for everyone.

Setting Up a Successful Collection Drive

Getting a collection drive off the ground is surprisingly straightforward. The real key to success is making it as easy as possible for people to take part. After all, our whole service is designed to be fast, easy, and hassle-free, and your collection should feel the same way.

Here’s a quick checklist to get you organised:

Pick a Collection Point: Choose a high-traffic, visible location. This could be the reception desk at the office, a corner of the staff room, or near a community hall noticeboard. Use a large, clearly labelled container—a big empty water cooler bottle or a sturdy box works perfectly.
Spread the Word: Get the message out using emails, posters, and social media. A crucial point to highlight is that there’s no need to sort the coins. This removes a major hurdle and makes people far more likely to donate.
Set a Clear Timeline: Run your collection for a specific period, like two weeks or a month. Having a deadline creates a sense of friendly urgency and helps keep the momentum going.
Share Your Progress: Keep everyone in the loop on how it’s going. Nothing encourages more donations like seeing the collection pot fill up!

By pooling everyone's forgotten coins, you’re not just collecting money; you’re building a sense of community around a shared goal. It’s a powerful way to show that even small, forgotten items can make a huge collective difference.

Once your collection is complete, our service ensures the final step is just as simple. You just send us the unsorted bulk collection, and we provide a 100% guaranteed service to exchange the currency. We're a trusted partner for major charities and brands all across the UK for a reason.

For a bit more inspiration, you can explore our guide on other great charity fundraising ideas in the UK.

Ready to Start Your Foreign Coin Donation?

Got a jar of leftover currency from past trips? That's not just clutter—it's a hidden resource just waiting to do some good in the world. We've shown you how surprisingly simple and powerful it can be to donate foreign coins to charity. Our entire service was built to be fast, easy, and totally secure, getting rid of all the usual headaches.

Forget spending hours trying to separate old pesos from Thai baht. Just gather it all up, pop it in the post, and we’ll handle the rest. This hassle-free approach is exactly why so many people trust us.

A Service Built on Trust and Simplicity

When you choose to exchange foreign coins and notes with us, you’re not just using any old service. You’re working with a company trusted by some of the biggest organisations in the UK. National charities, major supermarkets, airports, and even police forces count on our transparent and 100% guaranteed process. That network of trust means your contribution is in safe, professional hands every step of the way.

Don't let that jar of foreign currency sit in a drawer for another year. Every single coin and note, no matter how small or obscure, can be turned into real, meaningful support for a cause you care about.

Taking that next step is what really matters. By turning unused pocket change into a donation, you are unlocking value that would otherwise be lost. It's such a simple action, but it has a powerful, positive outcome.

Your journey to making a difference is just a click away. Take action now by visiting our homepage to learn more and get started. Let's convert your foreign coins and banknotes into vital funds today.

Common Questions About Donating Currency

It’s completely normal to have a few questions before you decide to donate foreign coins to charity. We get it. To make sure you feel confident in the process, we've put together answers to some of the most common queries we hear. We believe in being totally transparent so you know exactly how it all works.

Our main goal is to make donating your old currency as simple and rewarding as it can be.

Do I Really Not Have to Sort My Coins and Notes?

That’s absolutely right—you don’t need to sort a thing. We’ve designed our entire service around making this as easy as possible for you. Just gather up all your leftover foreign currency and pop it all together in one bag or box.

This includes all foreign coins, current banknotes, and even that old, obsolete currency you might have found tucked away in a drawer. Our specialised equipment and experienced team will handle all the sorting and counting for you. It saves you hours of what would otherwise be a pretty tedious job and is a core part of our hassle-free promise.

How Can I Be Sure My Donation Is Secure?

Trust is everything to us, and we don’t take that responsibility lightly. Our service is used and trusted by major UK organisations, from national charities and well-known supermarkets to airports and even police forces, who rely on us to handle currency securely and professionally.

We offer a 100% guaranteed and transparent process from the moment your currency leaves your hands to the final donation. This ensures your contribution is processed safely and its full value goes exactly where it’s intended. Our long-standing partnerships are a clear testament to our reliability.

Your peace of mind is our top priority. Every single collection is handled with the utmost care to maximise the value of your donation for the charity you're supporting.

What Kinds of Currency Can I Donate?

If you have it, chances are we can convert it. We accept virtually all foreign currency, making the process to exchange foreign coins and notes incredibly straightforward on your end.

Our service covers:

All foreign coins and banknotes currently in circulation.
Any old, demonetised, or obsolete money you might have from years ago.
Pre-Euro currencies like Spanish Pesetas, German Marks, or Italian Lira.

So, whether it's leftover Euros from your last holiday or a handful of old Francs you found in a tin, we can turn it into a valuable donation.

Is There a Minimum or Maximum Amount I Can Send?

Not at all. No amount is too small or too large. Every single coin, no matter how small, contributes to the final total and genuinely makes a difference.

Whether you have a small handful of change from one trip or a heavy box collected from a community fundraising drive, we’re fully equipped to process it. The collective power of many 'small' donations is what adds up to create a truly significant impact for charities.

Ready to turn that forgotten currency into vital support for a good cause? The process is fast, easy, and completely secure. We Buy All Currency is here to help you make a difference, one coin at a time. It’s never been simpler to convert your foreign coins and banknotes — take the first step today