Got leftover foreign coins from your last overseas trip? That small stash of yen, euros or baht could mean lifesaving supplies for children in need.
Right now, there are millions of dollars in foreign currency sitting idle in drawers, jars, and gloveboxes across Australia. Instead of letting your coins gather dust, you can turn them into hope.
Together, Travel Money Oz and UNICEF Australia are making it easy to give back. Through The Great National Coin Drop running from October 23rd to November 30, we’re calling on Australians everywhere to drop their leftover foreign coins into any Travel Money Oz store - where every gram of generosity adds up to real impact for children living through conflict, disasters, and crises.
How it Works
1. Bring in your leftover foreign currency.
Whether it's yen from Japan or euros from Spain, bring in notes and coins from any country that you find at home into a Travel Money Oz store.
2. See your impact grow in real time!
As you drop your coins into the store’s donation box, watch the level rise along the impact ruler - showing how your contribution helps fill the box toward lifesaving support for children in need.
3. Join the race!
Each state competes to donate the most coin weight - building toward a shared goal of filling trucks with lifesaving supplies like nutrition, clean water, and medicine to children in need.
Why It Matters
450m
More than 450 million children live in or have fled conflict zones.
1 in 4
1 in 4 people lack access to clean water.
60 seconds
Every 60 seconds, a child’s life is at risk from severe malnutrition.
Drop your coins. Create Change.
Even small amounts make a big impact. Did you know:
- $3 can help support six children in need with emergency nutrition rations.
- $7 can provide 1,250 water purification tablets for children without access to clean water.
- $15 can give 46 children lifesaving vaccines to protect them from illness and disease.
Your spare coins can save lives.
Let’s turn travel leftovers into a nationwide act of generosity. Rally your friends, your workplace, your school - and join your state’s quest to make the biggest difference.
Together, we can show that every coin counts when it comes to creating a better world for every child, everywhere.
Find your nearest store or click here to learn more.
FAQS
Funds raised through this campaign will be used to send lifesaving emergency supplies to children in Emergencies. Emergencies can be varied and unpredictable so UNICEF will use the money raised in this campaign to meet most urgent needs of children at the time it is received.
On average, 78 cents to every dollar spent for the past three years went directly to helping children in need, including long-term programs, emergency response and community education.
The remaining 22 cents in every dollar was invested in raising public awareness; fundraising to grow UNICEF's impact for children and in essential accountability and administration work.
UNICEF is 100 per cent donor funded and has helped save more lives than any other humanitarian organisation around the world.
Plumpy’Nut®, also known as ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), is a high-energy peanut paste containing sugar, vegetable oil and skimmed milk powder, and enriched with vitamins and minerals. Each sachet contains an estimated 500 calories and is suitable for children aged six months and over. Plumpy’Nut® is used to treat severe acute malnutrition in young children. Just three sachets a day for six to eight weeks can be all it takes to save a child’s life. When emergencies strike, this little sachet is a true lifesaver for children.
If you have any questions, please contact UNICEF Australia’s team at 1300 884 233 or email us at partnerships@unicef.org.au
Disclaimer: The values shown against each weight of foreign coins are estimates only, based on data provided by our repatriation house and their regular coin counts. These figures are used solely for the purpose of illustrating impact throughout the campaign.The final donation value will be determined and reported in 2026, once the formal repatriation process has been completed.