DK Coin

DK Coins, also known as Hero Coins were first introduced in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest for the Super Nintendo. Cranky Kong had hidden them in each level in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest for Diddy and Dixie Kong to find. Some of the places that these coins were hidden include a room that had a secret passage to access it, as an end of the level prize, or even in a bonus stage. There are forty coins in all. A DK symbol will appear next to the level name after the player has found the DK Coin in that level in Donkey Kong Country 2 and a yellow pendant will appear in Donkey Kong Country 3.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest/Land 2
In the Lost World, bonus levels have DK Coins instead of Kremkoins. Likewise, the Kongs get a DK Coin for completing the level, Krocodile Kore.

When the game is completed, Cranky will tally up all the DK Coins that have been collected and will then rank the Kongs on how many they have obtained.

In the remake of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest for the Game Boy Advance, twenty-eight new DK Coins were added making a grand total of sixty-eight DK Coins. To earn these new coins, the following had to be done:
 * Beating all the missions at Funky's Flights II.
 * Getting first place in all of the Expresso Racing levels.
 * Filling out the entire scrapbook that Wrinkly Kong gives the Kongs for homework.

The remaining forty coins are located in the same spot as in the original game.

DK Coins also make an appearance in Donkey Kong Land 2. In Donkey Kong Land 2, there are forty-seven DK Coins to be found like in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest; each level has one hidden DK Coin in them.

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!/Land III
In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble, the DK Coins make a return. They are each hidden in a level like in Donkey Kong Country 2 but with one major difference. An enemy known as Koin uses a DK Coin as a shield, as Koins must be defeated to obtain it. To defeat a Koin, the Kongs need to be over it with a Steel Keg, then the player will have to throw it and wait for the barrel to hit the wall and come back to hit the Koin. Koins can only be defeated with a Steel Keg barrel for two reasons:
 * 1) Koins are always facing the direction the Kongs and any attempt to attack it will be futile, as Koin can simply bash the Kongs away.
 * 2) If an attempt to jump on a Koin is made he will simply raise his shield over his head to block the attack.

If the player fails to defeat a Koin with a Steel Keg, a new keg will usually regenerate in most levels. However, in levels that the Steel Keg is a reward for something, only one chance is given to defeat the Koin. There are a total of forty-one DK Coins in this game. When a DK Coin has been collected in a level, a yellow pennant will appear on top of the Level Flag of that level on the world map.

There's only one DK Coin that isn't guarded by Koin. It is earned by completing the level, Knautilus.

Once the player has found all the DK Coins, they can go over to Funky's Rentals and trade them in for a Gyrocopter which will allow players to fly around the Northern Kremisphere. This will give access to the last three Banana Bird Caves that are only accessible by using the Gyrocopter.

In Donkey Kong Land III, there are fourty-two coins hidden in the game. The DK Coin is usually seen guarded by the Koin in all levels except those in sea settings (where they are seen floating and spinning). Exclusive in this game, DK Coins can be obtained by playing a card game in the Sheepy Shop in each world. A certain number Bonus Coins are needed to play this card game. The object of the card game is to match two pairs and keep on doing that until all pairs are found. There is also a time limit too and the game will end if players fail to find all the pairs when time is up.

DK Coins in Donkey Kong Land III are used to enter the Lost World after Baron K. Roolenstein is beaten in Tin Can Valley. All DK Coins will need to have found in all the levels between the first one and the duel with Roolenstein. DK Coins are also used to battle Roolenstein for the last time by gaining the remaining DK Coins in the Lost World levels as well as all of the Stop Watches.

DK series
DK Coins also appear in DK: King of Swing. Here they were to be the prizes for the upcoming Jungle Jam tournament, seemingly a Kong equivalent of the Olympic games. Unfortunately all the DK Coins are stolen by King K. Rool, Donkey Kong much adventure throughout Donkey Kong Island to reclaim the coins.

DK: King of Swing, along with having the regular large, golden DK Coins it also introduces medium-sized silver DK Coins and small bronze colored ones. Both of these types of DK Coin are lesser in value to the large gold ones, and more common than gold ones.

DK Coins return in DK Jungle Climber, and are collected to unlock some cheats.

Trivia

 * In Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Land 2, when a Bonus Stage is beaten in the Lost World, the prize is a DK Coin instead of a Kremkoin like in the normal levels of the game. There is only one bonus stage per level in the Lost World.
 * In Donkey Kong Land III, when Koin is defeated, a DK Coin is automatically gained. In the SNES version of Donkey Kong Country 3, once the Koin is defeated, the coin must be obtained by taking it from the spot the Koin was located. However, in the Game Boy Advance version of Donkey Kong Country 3, the DK coin is automatically gained, just one of the features borrowed for the Game Boy Advance port from Donkey Kong Land III.
 * In Donkey Kong Land III, the underwater levels are the only levels where the DK Coins were not guarded by Koins. Instead, they were hidden in the level just like in Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong Land 2.