Gold Coins vs Sweeps Coins Explained

Learn the difference between Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins and avoid mistakes from the beginning. Gold Coins are for fun and can never be cashed out. Sweeps Coins are the ones you can redeem for real prizes. That’s it, but the consequences of mixing them up are worth spelling out.

Gold Coins: the worthless currency

Gold Coins (GC) are the entertainment currency that you can get in heaps and never cash out.

Think of Gold Coins as arcade tokens. A great run on the machines is fun and feels like winning, but the tokens stay in the arcade. Their entire purpose is to let you enjoy the games and, not coincidentally, to give the casino something to sell.

• You get a big pile of Gold Coins for free when you sign up, and you can buy more if you want.
• You can play any casino game with Gold Coins. Just make sure you’re in standard mode.
• You can win more of them without much trouble. Sometimes a lot more.
• You can purchase packets of Gold Coins in large amounts. While GC is the purchase, the real value is the Sweeps Coins, which we explain better below.
• You can never, under any circumstances, redeem GC for cash or prizes. They are purely for fun.

Sweeps Coins: the real value

Sweeps Coins, also called Sweeps Cash, Sweepstakes Coins, or just SC, are the ones that carry real value. They can be obtained for free in smaller quantities, or larger doses in Gold Coin packages.

• You never buy them directly. That’s the whole point of the sweepstakes model: they come free, bundled with Gold Coin purchases, given out through daily logins, or requested by mail.
• You play them in sweepstakes mode. Make sure you know which mode you’re playing in to avoid spending them by accident.
• Anything you win with them can, once eligible, be redeemed for cash or prizes.
• You must be played through at least once, and in some casinos more, before they can be redeemed.
• You need to meet the minimum redeemable amount before you’re able to cash out. Typically 50 or 100 SC.
• They’re issued in far smaller quantities than Gold Coins. You might get millions of Gold Coins and just 10 Sweeps Coins in the same package.

Those small numbers are the real tell. If a balance is measured in the millions, it’s almost certainly Gold Coins. If it’s a modest number — often with a currency-like feel, where one coin equals roughly one dollar at redemption, that’s your Sweeps Coins. That’s the balance to protect.

It’s worth checking our guide on how to obtain free Sweeps Coins, especially if you don’t intend to spend any money.

Gold VS Sweeps Coins comparison

The mistakes to avoid

New players routinely do one of two things. Either they get excited by a giant Gold Coin balance and don’t realize none of it can ever be redeemed. Or they burn through their small Sweeps Coins balance carelessly, treating it like play money, and only later realize that was the currency that mattered.

We’ve all been there. Instead of making these mistakes, pay attention to which mode you are using. Before any spin, glance at which balance is ticking down. Casinos make it clear which mode you’re in, but you need to pay attention to it.

These are the two biggest mistakes to make, and if you’re brand new, we recommend reading our beginner’s guide to sweepstakes so you can get it right from the start.

How the two coins work together in practice

A typical session looks like this.

1. You buy a Gold Coin package because you want more play time, and it comes with a bonus of, say, 20 free Sweeps Coins.
2. You warm up in standard mode with the Gold Coins, learning the games at no risk to anything redeemable.
3. Then you switch to sweepstakes mode and play your Sweeps Coins deliberately, because those are the ones that can turn into a real payout.
4. When your Sweeps Coins balance clears the redemption minimum and any playthrough, you cash it out.

It’s worth noting that in most cases it takes a few sessions before you reach enough Sweeps Coins to redeem. However, it all depends on chance. Our fast SC redemption guide can give you tips on how to redeem your SC faster.

You never need to buy the Sweeps Coins; they come free as an extra gift with Gold Coins packages, as the model requires. The Gold Coins were the thing you actually paid for, and they were entirely optional.

Spending money to purchase Gold Coins is also never required, as both Gold and Sweeps Coins can be obtained for free. The only difference is that the amount of SC is far lower, so more grinding is required before you can redeem them for winnings.

The bottom line

Gold Coins let you play. Sweeps Coins let you win something real.

Keep the two coin types straight in your head, protect your Sweeps Coins balance, and make sure you pay attention to which mode you’re playing in. As long as you manage to keep the two separate, you should be fine and will avoid making the biggest Sweepstakes mistakes.

Once you’re comfortable with the distinction, our guide on how sweepstakes casinos work covers the wider model and can be a good read if you’re a new player.

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Jon Frendo Bongailas Author

Games & Payments Editor

Jon focuses on game libraries, software providers, and the redemption process end-to-end. He tests every payout method a platform offers before it gets a score and covers the bonus and payment guides.

Marcus Lee Browning Fact Checker ▾

Founder & Lead Reviewer

Eight years covering online gaming and sweepstakes platforms. Marcus runs account testing and redemption timing, and has cashed out of more sweeps sites than he’d care to count. He writes the operator reviews and sets the final scores.