Here’s How You Can Get Free Big Macs Starting Thursday

There are few foods more iconic on the pop culture landscape than the Big Mac. It's had a foothold in our subconscious for 50 years, and to celebrate 50 years of the two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun, McDonald's is giving away free Big Macs. Or collectable Big Mac coins, however you choose to participate.

The MacCoin is a collectable coin McDonald's will give out with every Big Mac you purchase starting lunchtime Thursday August 2nd, while supplies last. Now, you can keep the 50th anniversary collectable coin that will have 5 different designs celebrating each decade the Big Mac has existed, OR you can return the coin for a free Big Mac.

Now, unless you're an avid collector of coins and/or McDonald's memorabilia, your best bet is to get the burger. The coins have no real cash value, and if the Beanie Baby craze of the 90s taught us anything, they never will.

I'm not saying this will 100% work, because I haven't personally tested it, but if you use the in-app coupon I told you about a few weeks ago to get a Big Mac for $1, normally about $3.99 (for just the sandwich), you get the free Big Mac on top of that, saving you about $7. That's an incredible deal.

The Economist uses the Big Mac Index to show if a currency is currently under or over valued. It's about making sure through exchange rates, the same goods you purchase in one country are valued at the same price in another. In the example on their site, the British Pound is undervalued because a Big Mac costs considerably less than the exchange rate between the Pound and the US Dollar. And that's where the concept of the MacCoin comes from.