Bear coin

"To help me train, it will cost you two of those stupid silver coins, the ones with the freaky bears' heads on."

- Cranky Kong

Bear coins (also spelled Bear Koins) are silver coins with an imprint of a bear. They appear in both Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! and Donkey Kong Land III as the currency of the Northern Kremisphere, and are the successor to the Banana Coins from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Land 2. Bear coins can be found in every level.

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, Dixie and Kiddy use bear coins to buy various items at some of the Brothers Bear cabins, most notably Bazaar's General Store, and to play at Swanky's Sideshow, which costs two bear coins to play each time.

In the levels, bear coins are often found in hidden or higher areas. Some bear coins are invisible until the Kongs collect them. Bear coins are common collectibles, so if either Dixie and Kiddy exit from a Bonus Level or restart the level, the bear coins reappear in their original locations. The Kongs can only carry up to 99 bear coins. If the Kongs defeat a boss in subsequent rematches, they win bear coins instead of a Bonus Coin. Whenever the player saves the game, the total number of bear coins is also saved.

In the Game Boy Advance remake, Swanky Kong charges two bear coins whenever Dixie plays the minigame, just like with Swanky's Sideshow. At Cranky's Dojo, it costs one bear coin to play Cranky Kong's minigame at first, but subsequent plays cost two bear coins.

Donkey Kong Land III
In Donkey Kong Land III, bear coins are used at the Sheepy Shop to buy a Bear's services or to play the cards game, which is necessary to collect Watches and DK Coins. Aside from this, bear coins otherwise have the same purpose as in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!