In order to perform precise identification and location of artificial coded targets in natural scenes, a novel design of circle-based coded target and the corresponding coarse-fine extraction algorithm are presented. The designed target separates the target box and coding box totally and owns an advantage of rotation invariance. Based on the original target, templates are prepared by three geometric transformations and are used as the input of shape-based template matching. Finally, region growing and parity check methods are used to extract the coded targets as final results. No human involvement is required except for the preparation of templates and adjustment of thresholds in the beginning, which is conducive to the automation of close-range photogrammetry. The experimental results show that the proposed recognition method for the designed coded target is robust and accurate.