How to get Coins in Pokemon GO & What to Buy

By Devin KellyJul 19, 2022Updated:Sep 14, 2022

Coins make everything easier in Pokemon GO. They allow you to find more Pokemon, throw more balls, and take on more Raids.

So there’s no question why players want to know how to get coins in Pokemon GO. But they also need to know what to spend those coins on!

Not everything in Pokemon GO’s shop is worth the money, especially when you can spend your money elsewhere.

In this guide, I’ll cover how to get more coins in Pokemon GO and how you should spend those coins for the best play experience.

How to get Free Coins in Pokemon GO

The only way to get free Pokemon GO coins at the moment is by defeating and holding gyms. This is how Pokemon GO’s coin system works:

Defeat a Gym, and place a Pokemon inside of it to defend it
You will earn 1 gold every 10 minutes that your Pokemon defends the Gym
You will only receive the gold once your Pokemon is defeated and knocked out
You can only earn 50 Free Coins per day (about 8 hours of defending)

Choosing your Gyms Wisely

As stated, you can only earn 50 coins per day and you only receive the coins when your Pokemon is knocked out.

This means that even if your Pokemon defends the Gym for a week straight before getting knocked out, you will still only receive 50 coins.

It also means that if you are defending two Gyms, and your Pokemon gets knocked out during the same day, you may only benefit from one of them.

You want to choose Gyms that are inactive enough for you to hold for an entire day, yet active enough that you will be able to collect your coins every day.

Coins in the Shop

Another way to get coins in Pokemon GO is by cracking open the ol’ wallet and giving Niantic what they want!

The current Coin Prices in Pokemon GO are:

$0.99 – 100 Coins
$4.99 – 550 Coins
$9.99 – 1,200 Coins
$19.99 – 2,500 Coins
$39.99 – 5,200 Coins
$99.99 – 14,500 Coins

You’ve probably noticed that each tier of pricing grants more Coins (to encourage you to spend more money.)

Still, unless you’re made of money, you’re going to want to spend your money smarter, not harder.

What to Spend Coins on in Pokemon GO

So you’ve got your coins, either through defending Gyms for a couple of weeks or through pulling out your Credit Card. What now?

You do not want to spend money on things that you can get for free right? And you also want to ensure you’re spending money on the part of Pokemon GO that you like.

If you’re not a fan of catching Pokemon anymore, you probably shouldn’t buy Incense. If you’re not a fan of Raiding, you don’t want Raid Passes.

Avoid Pokeballs (100+ Coins)

As I said, you don’t want to spend money on things you can get for free, and in Pokemon GO you can get quite a bit of free Pokeballs.

Gifts from friends, research events, and PokeStops are all great ways to get free Pokeballs, and great reasons not to spend your coins on them.

Item Bags (200 Coins)

Item Bags are 110% worth the price in Pokemon GO. They cost 200 Coins and increase the number of items you can hold at once.

The reason they are worth the price is that without them you’re going to end up tossing a lot of items. Once your bag is full, if you receive another fantastic item, you’ll be forced to discard something.

By increasing space, you won’t have to worry about discarding anything and can stockpile Pokeballs, which will allow you to play indefinitely.

Boxes (500 – 1500 Coins)

Boxes can be a great purchase, or they can be a very poor one.

If you enjoy battling, then I highly recommend purchasing a box with many premium battles passes so that you can milk rewards from the GO Battle League.

Now, if you just enjoy catching and leveling up your Pokemon, these boxes can also be a great place to find Great and Ultra Balls.

Make sure to continuously check the shop for Event Boxes, which can be as cheap as 1 Coin and have fantastic goodies!

Incense/Lures (40 Coins) & Lucky Eggs (80 Coins)

Incense and Lures are great for players that love finding and catching Pokemon (Most of us). They’re pretty much always worth the price because they really do bring all the Mons to the yard.

Lucky Eggs are another great item because they boost the XP your trainer gets every time you catch a Pokemon. So mixing these two items together is a great way to level up fast.