Coins are necessary for expanding inventory, storage, and purchasing various items. Learn how to get coins in Pokémon GO.
You can earn coins in Pokémon GO with one of two methods: spending money (paid) or defending/attacking gyms.
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Unfortunately, you can only earn up to 50 Coins per day as a free-to-play (F2P) trainer. If you opt to spend money, however, you can get as much as you want.
Defending/Attacking Gyms (Free Method)
In order to attack and defend Gyms, you need to be Level 5 or higher.
Find a Gym nearby that either belongs to a rival team or your own. For example, if you’re on Team Mystic, you can attack gyms belonging to Team Valor or Team Instinct. Additionally, you can defend gyms belonging to Team Mystic.
Attacking
If you do not see any Gyms in your local area belonging to your Team, you will first need to attack the enemy Pokémon protecting it before you can put one of your own down to start earning Coins for defending.
Defending
Gyms can hold up to six Pokémon at once. If there are five Pokémon or less at a Gym belonging to your team, you can place one of your own Pokémon there to defend it. You will earn up to six coins per hour in a given Gym (one coin per 10 minutes), but you will only receive the coins after your Pokémon is defeated and returned to you.
No matter how many Pokémon you have spread out at multiple Gyms, you can only earn up to 50 Coins per day.
As your Pokémon defends a Gym, it will slowly lose Motivation over time, measured by its remaining CP (Combat Power). It will start at maximum Motivation which is equivalent to its CP. Feed your defending Pokémon various berries to keep it guarding the Gym longer (this can be done remotely).
The best defenders have high defense. Consider using Snorlax and Blissey.
Buying Coins (Paid Method)
The easiest way to earn Coins in Pokémon GO is to financially support the game by spending real money.
Simply tap the Shop button and scroll to the bottom area labeled Pokécoins. From there, you can buy Coins in various increments, depending on how much real money you’re willing to spend.
At the moment, the prices and quantities for purchasing Coins with real money are as follows:
- 100 Pokécoins ($0.99)
- 550 Pokécoins ($4.99)
- 1,200 Pokécoins ($9.99)
- 2,500 Pokécoins ($19.99)
- 5,200 Pokécoins ($39.99)
- 14,500 Pokécoins ($99.99)
Pokémon GO is an augmented reality (AR) game developed by Niantic and released worldwide in 2016 for iOS and Android mobile devices.