A coin sorting plate for receiving and sorting a stream of coins by the diameter and hence the denomination of the coin has a number of coin recesses that extend along the path of the coin stream. Each coin recess is sized to receive a respective coin diameter. The coin recesses are arranged with the recess openings increasing in size in the downstream direction to progressively remove coins in order of increasing diameter. Each coin recess is bounded by a downstream wall that forces a coin in the recess to move off a peripheral edge of the coin sorting plate for collection or other processing.