I don’t understand why people frequently say this. While it’s true you can pay money for them, I’ve never spent a dime on reddit and have given out over 50 golds and have enough coins to give out a half dozen more. I don’t know what the mechanics are for earning the coins I have, all I can say is I haven’t paid for any of them yet I do have them, so it’s not true that when someone gives an award it was paid for with real money.

FYI - the results you see are unique to you. Other people doing the exact same thing can see a different set of results.