Coins (sometimes known as golden coins) are coins that are found commonly throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. Aside from being the apparent currency of the Mushroom Kingdom, they provide many uses for Mario. In the 3D console titles: Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy, they are used to replenish Mario's health. In Super Mario Galaxy 2, It is impossible to obtain more than 9,999 of these coins. In various games, some are found in lines or groups on the floor while others are found when defeating enemies, opening boxes, or other events.

In the Paper Mario series of RPGs, coins are actually saved up and used for purchasing items, particularly badges. In Mario Party, coins are gained through winning mini games and are used to purchase stars. They first appeared in Mario Bros, from 1983 to 2010 existing in twenty seven years.

Prizes

Coins are frequently counted up at the end of the level in a number of games, contributing as high scores or some sort of bonus. Particularly in the platforming games, gathering one hundred coins will score Mario an extra life. In the console titles, gathering one hundred coins will earn Mario an extra star or shine sprite.

Other Types of Coins

• Dragon Coins are coins that are usually found five in each level in Super Mario World. Obtaining all five in a level results in a 1-Up.
• Star Coins are coins that are found in New Super Mario Bros.(three per level). Five of these coins will unlock a mushroom house and 20 will allow the player to buy a new skin from the blue mushroom house. In New Super Mario Bros. Wii they are used to unlock hint videos. In the later game, if all the Star Coins in a world are collected, a new level in World 9 is unlocked.
• Red Coins are red-colored coins found in several games that are found in collections of 8 and a reward is received when all eight are found.
• Blue Coins are blue-colored coins, that in Super Mario 64, are worth 5 golden coins when found. In Super Mario Sunshine, 10 blue coins can be used to buy a Shine Sprite at the boat house.
• Purple Coins are purple-colored coins in Super Mario Galaxy and in Super Mario Galaxy 2. They appear in the Purple Comet challenges. Collecting 100 will cause a Power Star to appear.

Mario Kart series

Alongside the kart system of lives, Super Mario Kart had a kind of coin system of health. Coins were scattered on the ground and could be driven over like Question Blocks to be collected. If a player collected 10 or more coins, they could go faster. If a player bumped into another racer, got hit by an item, or fell off the track, they would lose anywhere from one to four coins. Having no coins meant that any contact with any other racer would result in a spin-out. The Coin item simply gave the user an additional 2 coins.

In Mario Kart: Super Circuit, coins are given roughly the same level of importance and behave roughly the same way. There are two major differences. The first is that the amount of coins collected is used to calculate rankings in Grand Prix mode. The second is that 10 coins is no longer the max for speed increases; with enough coins, a racer can drive faster than a Red Shell.

Coins didn't appear in Mario Kart 64 or Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. Mario Kart DS featured missions that required collecting coins, such as Yoshi collecting eighteen coins on Tart Top. Mario Kart Wii, along with a new Battle Mode called Coin Runners (similar to Shine Runners and Shine Thief), has featured many online tournaments revolving around coin collecting.

Coins reappeared in the Grand Prixs of Mario Kart 7. Collecting them results in a minor speed boost. The game tracks the number of coins collected and rewards the player with new parts for customizing karts after collecting certain amounts of coins. The Coin Runners Battle Mode also returned.

Mario Party series

Coins are a big part of the Mario series. In the Mario Party series, they are used to buy Items, as well as Boo's "service" and the important Stars. Coins are easily obtained, and the player even receives a free 10 coins at the beginning of a game. Coins are obtained by stepping on blue space, winning mini-games and special events. In Mario Party, total Coins are saved, and are used at a shop to buy game affecting items and Minigames. In Mario Party 2, they are used in the same way, but the game affecting items are no longer used. Coins are used as bonuses at the end of a board as the player who won the most coins in Mini-Games and the player who held the highest amount of coins in the game will receive a Star for their accomplishment. However, in Mario Party 9, the use of coins is completly scrapped in favor of Star Bits.

Price Variations