problemmediumalgorithmsleetcode-2952leetcode 2952leetcode2952

Minimum Number of Coins to be Added

MediumUpdated: Aug 2, 2025
Practice on:
LeetCode

Problem

You are given a 0-indexed integer array coins, representing the values of the coins available, and an integer target.

An integer x is obtainable if there exists a subsequence of coins that sums to x.

Return theminimum number of coins of any value that need to be added to the array so that every integer in the range [1, target]isobtainable.

A subsequence of an array is a new non-empty array that is formed from the original array by deleting some (possibly none) of the elements without disturbing the relative positions of the remaining elements.

Examples

Example 1

Input: coins = [1,4,10], target = 19
Output: 2
Explanation: We need to add coins 2 and 8. The resulting array will be [1,2,4,8,10].
It can be shown that all integers from 1 to 19 are obtainable from the resulting array, and that 2 is the minimum number of coins that need to be added to the array.

Example 2

Input: coins = [1,4,10,5,7,19], target = 19
Output: 1
Explanation: We only need to add the coin 2. The resulting array will be [1,2,4,5,7,10,19].
It can be shown that all integers from 1 to 19 are obtainable from the resulting array, and that 1 is the minimum number of coins that need to be added to the array.

Example 3

Input: coins = [1,1,1], target = 20
Output: 3
Explanation: We need to add coins 4, 8, and 16. The resulting array will be [1,1,1,4,8,16].
It can be shown that all integers from 1 to 20 are obtainable from the resulting array, and that 3 is the minimum number of coins that need to be added to the array.

Constraints

  • 1 <= target <= 10^5
  • 1 <= coins.length <= 10^5
  • 1 <= coins[i] <= target

Solution

Method 1 – Greedy Coverage

Intuition

To cover every sum from 1 to target, always add the smallest value that cannot be formed yet. This greedy approach ensures minimal additions, as each new coin extends the range of obtainable sums maximally.

Approach

  1. Sort the coins array.
  2. Initialize miss = 1 (smallest sum not yet covered) and added = 0 (coins added).
  3. Iterate through coins:
    • If coin ≤ miss, add coin to coverage (miss += coin).
    • Else, add a coin of value miss (miss += miss, added++).
  4. Continue until miss > target.
  5. Return added.

Code

C++
class Solution {
public:
    int minimumAddedCoins(vector<int>& coins, int target) {
        sort(coins.begin(), coins.end());
        long miss = 1, i = 0, added = 0;
        while (miss <= target) {
            if (i < coins.size() && coins[i] <= miss) {
                miss += coins[i++];
            } else {
                miss += miss;
                added++;
            }
        }
        return added;
    }
};
Go
func minimumAddedCoins(coins []int, target int) int {
    sort.Ints(coins)
    miss, i, added := 1, 0, 0
    for miss <= target {
        if i < len(coins) && coins[i] <= miss {
            miss += coins[i]
            i++
        } else {
            miss += miss
            added++
        }
    }
    return added
}
Java
class Solution {
    public int minimumAddedCoins(int[] coins, int target) {
        Arrays.sort(coins);
        long miss = 1;
        int i = 0, added = 0;
        while (miss <= target) {
            if (i < coins.length && coins[i] <= miss) {
                miss += coins[i++];
            } else {
                miss += miss;
                added++;
            }
        }
        return added;
    }
}
Kotlin
class Solution {
    fun minimumAddedCoins(coins: IntArray, target: Int): Int {
        coins.sort()
        var miss = 1L
        var i = 0
        var added = 0
        while (miss <= target) {
            if (i < coins.size && coins[i] <= miss) {
                miss += coins[i]
                i++
            } else {
                miss += miss
                added++
            }
        }
        return added
    }
}
Python
class Solution:
    def minimumAddedCoins(self, coins: list[int], target: int) -> int:
        coins.sort()
        miss: int = 1
        i: int = 0
        added: int = 0
        while miss <= target:
            if i < len(coins) and coins[i] <= miss:
                miss += coins[i]
                i += 1
            else:
                miss += miss
                added += 1
        return added
Rust
impl Solution {
    pub fn minimum_added_coins(mut coins: Vec<i32>, target: i32) -> i32 {
        coins.sort();
        let mut miss = 1;
        let mut i = 0;
        let mut added = 0;
        while miss <= target {
            if i < coins.len() && coins[i] <= miss {
                miss += coins[i];
                i += 1;
            } else {
                miss += miss;
                added += 1;
            }
        }
        added
    }
}
TypeScript
class Solution {
    minimumAddedCoins(coins: number[], target: number): number {
        coins.sort((a, b) => a - b);
        let miss = 1, i = 0, added = 0;
        while (miss <= target) {
            if (i < coins.length && coins[i] <= miss) {
                miss += coins[i];
                i++;
            } else {
                miss += miss;
                added++;
            }
        }
        return added;
    }
}

Complexity

  • ⏰ Time complexity: O(n log n), for sorting and greedy iteration.
  • 🧺 Space complexity: O(1), only a few variables are used.

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