Learn how to sort your coins with a 3D printed coin sorter so you don’t have to worry about sorting your coins ever again. Sorted!

Here’s a wonderful 3D printing project that’s functional, clever, and not the least bit pointless. It’s a 3D printed coin sorter that sifts through loose currency and organizes it into correct denominations. Just drop your coins into the hopper at the top and then twist the disk.

How does this magical device work? It looks like simplicity itself. The four tubes are calibrated to the diameter of US coins — nickels, dimes, pennies and quarters. When the disk is rotated, they quickly fall into their appropriate stack.

A-ha, but the genius of good design is how it makes a complex operation actually seem easy. Why don’t the smaller coins tumble straightaway into the larger tubes, for example?

It’s because the mechanism is designed only to turn clockwise, and the holes go from smallest to largest. If you start with a nickel, for example, it passes over the hole for the dime, and then the penny, but falls in the hole for the nickel. The coin sorter only works if you twist it in the correct direction, otherwise all of the coins will fall in the hole for the quarter.

3D Printed Coin Sorter is the Best Coin Sorter

Another nice design feature is how each tube tells you how much currency it contains when full. The quarters tube, for example, amounts to the princely sum of $10 dollars. The nickels, meanwhile, amount to $1.80.

Naturally, the 3D printed coin sorter has already become rather popular. The work of maker Eugene Pentland, it’s the latest in a long line of sophisticated designs he’s shared to Thingiverse, including a Bayblade Fidget Toy and a Slim Wallet.

Members of the community have requested if the design can be adapted for currencies other than American. To address this, Pentland has uploaded the CAD files to Autodesk Fusion360, where you can freely modify the model to any dimensions you require.

What do you think? Will you be downloading and printing a coin sorter of your very own? If you do, don’t forget to tip Pentland and support the production of more great designs like this in the future.