AC loss characteristics of high temperature superconducting coils wound by Bi2223/Ag tape with various cross sections are numerically investigated. The numerical results show that the smaller coil aspect ratio, the smaller AC losses in the HTS coil. It 1 as considered from the numerical results that the coil aspect ratio giving the minimum coil volume is the better shape judging from the many aspects such as the required length of tape, the stored energy, the central magnetic field and the critical current together with the AC loss. It was also shown by the numerical study that the optimal coil design giving the reduced AC loss can be done by employing the stepped cross section coil and the turn number graded coil.