Enter the number of pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half-dollars, and dollar coins you have into the calculator to determine the total coin weight.

Coin Weight Formula

The following formula is used to calculate the weight of a jar or collection of coins.

W = P*2.5 + N*5 + d*2.268 + Q*5.670 + HD*11.340 + D*81

  • Where W is the weight in grams
  • P is the number of pennies
  • N is the number of nickels
  • d is the number of dimes
  • Q is the number of quarters
  • HD is the number of half dollars
  • D is the number of dollar coins

Coin Weight Definition

A coin weight is the total weight of a collection of coins determined by the amount of each type of coin and their respective weights.

The weights of each coin are standardized by the US mint and made to a specific tolerance.

US Coin Weights

The following table outlines the weights of each US coin.

CoinWeight (grams)
Penny2.5g
Nickel5g
Dime2.268g
Quarter5.670g
Half Dollar11.340g
Dollar81g

Example Problem

How to calculate the weight of a jar of coins?

First, determine the numbers of each individual coin.

For this example, the coins are separated and counted. The results are as follows:

  • Pennies: 20
  • Nickels: 5
  • Dimes: 4
  • Quarters: 20
  • Half Dollar: 10
  • Dollar: 1

Next, enter the values into the formula above to calculated the coin weight:

W = P*2.5 + N*5 + d*2.268 + Q*5.670 + HD*11.340 + D*81

= 20*2.5+5*5+4*2.268+20*5.570 + 10*11.340+1*81

= 389.872 grams

To convert this into pounds, divide the result by 454

= 389.872/454

= .8595 lbs