Abstract: A coin return mechanism for public telephones has a coin box 1 with an access door 13 and a cam 15. The access door 13 and cam 15 are mounted on a shaft 14 that turns when door 13 is pushed, and return to the their resting position when the door is no longer pushed. A pusher 3 includes a square section rod 35 having an angular deformation of 70.degree. at one end, and having a recess for housing a wheel 33 that rotates atop cam 15. The other end of the square section rod 35 has a drilled hole for receiving a shaft that supports a forked prismatic part 34 that turns about the shaft. The two arms of the forked part 34 and the rod 35 have drilled holes through which the shaft passes. A spring 36 situated on the shaft is fastened to the an end of the forked prismatic part 34 and to the rod 35. When the access door 13 is opened, cam 15 moves and causes pusher 3 to move upward and cause a cylindrical pin 67 in a coin inserting mechanism 4 to block a coin insertion slot 46.