The Heat Transfer Coefficient (HTC) in casting is critical input in numerical simulations. However, it depends on alloy composition, melt temperature, mold preheating temperature and local casting modulus, hence it is difficult to determine a priori. This work uses temperature measurements obtained by thermocouples during investment casting of a multiple section reference part. HTC was determined by three different methods: (a) analytical, formulating a detailed expression for the HTC in time steps for a one-dimensional approximation (b) inverse, following a well-known iterative algorithm proposed in literature and (c) "trial-and-error" simulation runs for different HTCs based on the judgment of the analyst. In conclusion, the analytical method proved to be fast, but yields very approximate HTC. The inverse method achieves accurate temperature evolution, but it might be unrealistic in physics terms. The trial-and-error method is flexible and may be accurate yet cumbersome and uncertain, unless automated, for instance through a Genetic Algorithm.