Are you trying to make a quick dime from electronics? Why limit yourself to dimes? This coin acceptor will take three different kinds of coin! Whether you’re building your own arcade cabinet or just charging admission to your house, this programmable coin acceptor makes it easy to monetize your next project.

The sensors in this coin acceptor use the thickness, diameter and fall time of the coins to identify them and it’s fully programmable so you’re not limited to any particular type of currency. Simply use the buttons and 7-segment display on the side of the unit to select a coin profile, insert a bunch of coin samples (or the same one, over and over) and you’re good to go! After you’ve programmed the coin profiles, the coin acceptor will recognize them and report when each type is inserted, rejecting other coins.

This coin acceptor also has a coin inhibitor, so your controller can tell the coin acceptor not to take any more coins. All you need to get the coin acceptor working is a pocket full of change, a 12VDC supply and somewhere for the change to fall after it’s accepted.

So maybe you won’t get rich building your own vending machines but access control using different sizes of tokens might be cool, or even a virtual vending machine where you can buy MMORPG items. There are a ton of cool coin-operated projects just waiting to be built! This module will be able to tell counterfeits if they have a different thickness, diameter and have a different fall time to the coins that it’s programmed for. It’s not going to have like a magnetic signature detector in there that will read the field of the coin or anything. It’s just a simple mechanical sorting device.