Fallout (Series)

The Fallout franchise features coins in all mainline and spin-off titles, in the form of Bottle Caps, NCR (New California Republic) Money, and Legion Coins, hereafter referred to as "Caps". Caps are both a reward and a currency in the world of Fallout.

In the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout, caps are plentiful among all wasteland citizens, ranging from the affulent and important to common raiders and junkies. The player will find caps quickly from the start of the game, and will frequently come to have a great deal of them by the end of their adventure.

Caps are used to purchase weapons, food, ammo, clothes, armor, medicine, and quest items. They frequently are used as temporary roadblocks preventing access to an important area or vital information. In Fallout: New Vegas, caps are far easier to accumulate thanks to that game's gambling system. Additionally, in New Vegas, they can be used as part of the crafting system.

Nuka-Cola Caps
With Nuka-Cola being the most popular drink of the pre-war world, these come in no short supply to the player.

These are the most common cap in the wastelands, being found in nearly every location.

Nuka-Cola caps have 21 crimps and ridges, as stated in-game and visible on the 3D models.

Counterfeit Nuka-Cola Caps (New Vegas Exclusive)
These extremely rare, limited caps are only found in one location, the Cap Counterfeiting Shack in the Eastern Mojave Wasteland.

Only 18 of these can be found there, they do not respawn, and they have no monetary value in the game.

This added with the fact they are not associated with any questline makes them the only completely useless coin in the franchise.

Sunset Sarsaparilla Caps - (NV Exclusive)
While Nuka-Cola still had a presence in the area, the most popular drink of the pre-war Mojave was Sunset Sarsaparilla.

In the post-war Mojave, these are used as currency, indistinguishable from Nuka-Cola caps in the players inventory unless dropped individually, with the exact same value as standard caps.

Sunset Sarsaparilla Star Caps - (NV Exclusive)
These rare caps are discovered on bottles of Sunset Sarsaparilla (based on random chance), hidden in the environment, or in posession of NPCs.

These are distinguished from usual Sarsaparilla caps by the bright blue star on the bottom side.

These are unique in the series as these are directly linked to a quest. After the player has collected 50 Star Caps and given them to the animatronic Festus at the Sunset Sarsaparilla factory, they will be rewarded with ~1500 Nuka-Cola caps, 319 toy deputy badges which serve no in-game purpose, and a special laser pistol, Pew-Pew.

After this quest is complete, Star Caps are automatically converted to standard Sarsaparilla caps and take on a 1:1 value with said caps.

Alcohol Bottle Cap - (Fallout 4 Exclusive)
These are obtained from drinking beer found in the Boston area. They have the same value as standard caps, however, they do not have a in-game visual appearance.

Despite this, it can be safely assumed they have a distinct look from Nuka-Cola caps.

Vim! Cap - (FO4 Exclusive)
Obtainable only in the DLC Far Harbor, these are sourced from bottles of Vim! soda. These have the same value as standard caps, just like the Beer caps.

Bawls Bottle Cap - (Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel Exclusive)
The real-life caffeinated soda Bawls Guarana appears in BoS as a cross-promotional item with the bottle caps being the game's sole currency.

Legion Coinage - (NV Exclusive)
In the Mojave wasteland, Caesar's Legion mints their own currency in two forms, the Denarius and the Aureus.

These coins are only accepted by certain factions, but can be collected by the player regardless of their alliances.

NCR $1 Coin - (Fallout 2 Exclusive)
In California, caps have been completely replaced as the major currency by NCR Money, used by all major powers in the area.