Coinstar kiosks in the U.S. offer many services but do not exchange gift cards or foreign currency.

About Us

We empower consumers by transforming what they have into what they want.

The Coinstar Story

In 1989 Jens Molbak was sitting in his dorm room at Stanford University, staring at a jar of coins on his desk, trying to think of the easiest way he could turn all that loose change into some much-needed cash. He realized that there was simply no way to do it.

Founding Coinstar two years later, Jens aimed to create an easy and convenient way for people to turn their loose change into spending money without having to sort, roll, and take it to the bank. Along with two classmates, he built a kiosk that could accurately do all of the hard work. This meant that all the customer had to focus on was how they were going to spend the cash they got back.

By 1992, the kiosk was ready for its first installation and Coinstar was subsequently named one of the fastest growing companies in the US. Fast forward to today, and Jens’ vision of helping people make their coins go further is bigger than he could have predicted. Check out the timeline below to see just a few of Coinstar’s biggest moments.

Coinstar kiosk image

Coinstar. So Money Possibilities.®

Times have changed, and Coinstar has too. Over the past few years, we’ve gone from being the go-to coin-to-cash converter to adding other coin services like eGift cards and charity donations. And now, we’re going further to offer payment solutions that solve the challenge of making physical money available in a digital world. Coinstar offers cash services to meet emerging needs like buying bitcoin. No matter how you want your money to work, Coinstar can make it work for you. Coinstar offers So Money Possibilities.®

The Coinstar Timeline

Coinstar History