Bell

Bells (ベル Beru^?) are the currency used in the Animal Crossing series. Their main use is to purchase items from Nook's and Crazy Redd's as well as from villagers, Gracie, the Able Sisters, and Brewster. Bells also serve as payment for services from Harriet, Katrina and Tom Nook's house renovations among other things.

Bells are stored separately from other items in the player's wallet, though bells from trees, shiny spots, and Money Rocks initially appear as inventory items and must be picked up and moved to the wallet manually. Inventory bells can be picked up and stacked as long as the combined value does not exceed 99,000 bells. However, bell denominations under 1,000 cannot be stacked on denominations over 1,000 (for instance, 500 cannot be combined with 2,000).

In Animal Crossing, the player could carry up to 849,999 Bells at any one time. In Wild World and City Folk, this is substantially expanded upon, as the player can have 99,999 Bells in their wallet and fifteen 99,000 Bell bags in their pockets, bringing the grand total to a maximum of 1,584,999 Bells on hand at one time. As New Leaf has one slot in the pocket more than the previous games, the total is raised to 1,683,999 Bells. This can be further expanded by putting Bell bags into letters for an additional 990,000 Bells, but these do not count as on-hand as the player cannot access these funds to buy something.

In Mario Kart 8, the Animal Crossing track will change the standard coin's appearance for Bells, since the race course is based on Animal Crossing: New Leaf. The player could collect up to 10 Bells in order to reach maximum speed in the current race, the same functionality as a standard coin.

Appearance

Bells are most famously known for the tan-colored sacks (featuring a dark brown star in CF and beyond), tied with red rope. In Wild World the image of a single 100 bell coin was introduced as a gold coin with a star which replaced all values from 100 to 900 bells, turning into a sack on 1,000 and up. In Mario Kart 8 The image of the Bells in the track and in the Item Roulette after hitting an Item Block has the same appearance from Animal Crossing: New Leaf, but in high definition resolution.

Obtaining Bells

There are many ways to make Bells: the player can sell items and fruit, do favors for villagers, or even shake trees for money. The player can also make a Money Tree by burying Bells with a golden shovel. Money trees will not always grow, but when they do, they can be very profitable. Bell rocks can also gain the player money. By hitting the bell rock (a randomly selected pre-existing rock) in a town with a shovel or an axe, 100 bells to 8,000 bells can pop out of the rock depending on how fast you hit it. In New Leaf, hitting the rock with the Silver Shovel will rarely cause the bell rock to produce ores instead of bells, which can be used to refurbish furniture at Re-Tail or sold for a large sum of bells. Another technique employed by players to obatin bells in New Leaf, is to go to the island during night. The player may catch bugs worth 8,000 - 12,000 bells to sell on the Re-Tail.

Rejection on Bells

At animal's birthday parties in the new version of New Leaf, the animal may ask for a present, preferably wrapped. If the player gives them bells, they will say something like, "What?! A bunch of bells!? Oh no, I can't accept this. I will feel this will make our friendship weird. Please, take it back." If wrapped, the bells will stay wrapped in the pockets when the animal gives back his/her present. If the animal is talked to again, they may ask again if a gift was brought. Although if the party left, the villager will assume the player is leaving the party forever, and say such as "What? You're leaving the party already. Well, I'll always remember this birthday forever." even though the party may be re-entered anytime.