Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Erstein Notgeld 50 Pfennigs
A 1917 German emergency-money token for 50 Pfennigs from Erstein in Alsace, with the town coat of arms on the obverse and a large 50 on the reverse.
Token/notgeld
South Africa 5 Shillings
A large 1952 South African silver crown marking Cape Town's 300th anniversary, with King George VI and a sailing-ship reverse.
Circulation
10 Pahlavi Gold Coin
A large gold coin of Imperial Iran valued at ten Pahlavi, showing Mohammad Reza Shah on the obverse and the crowned Lion and Sun on the reverse.
Persia / Iran
Spanish Colonial 4 Reales
A large silver colonial coin worth half a Spanish dollar, struck for Spain's American empire and bearing the crowned Spanish royal arms.
Colonial
Roman As
A base-metal As of ancient Rome, showing the double-faced head of Janus on one side and a chariot with ROMA on the other.
Ancient
Antiochos the Child Tetradrachm
Silver Seleucid tetradrachm, c. 175 BC, with a young diademed head and a martial reverse figure with spear and shield.
Ancient
Alexander the Great Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm of Alexander III of Macedon with the head of Heracles in a lion skin and an enthroned deity holding an eagle on the reverse.
Ancient
Franklin Half Dollar
U.S. 90% silver fifty-cent piece struck 1948–1963, with Benjamin Franklin's profile and a Liberty Bell reverse flanked by a small eagle.
Half Dollar
Seated Liberty Half Dime with Arrows
A tiny silver five-cent piece: Liberty seated with a shield, small arrows flanking the date to mark a reduced weight, over a wreath reverse.
Half Dime
Braunschweig-Lüneburg 3 Thaler
A large silver 3 Thaler of Braunschweig-Lüneburg dated 1685, its obverse showing an allegorical Libertas figure in classical dress against a landscape.
German States
Speciedaler
Large early-modern Norwegian silver crown of the Dano-Norwegian kingdom, showing a crowned royal bust and the Norwegian lion shield, dated 1628.
Early Modern
Prussian Taler
A large silver taler of the Kingdom of Prussia showing the crowned profile of Frederick II and a heraldic coat of arms, struck through the mid-to-late 1700s.
German States
German 1 Deutsche Mark
The workhorse 1-Mark coin of West Germany and reunified Germany, showing a large numeral 1 framed by oak leaves and the words DEUTSCHE MARK.
Circulation
French 40 Francs Gold (Napoleon I)
A large early French gold coin showing Napoleon Bonaparte's left-facing profile and a wreathed reverse, struck in the opening years of his rule.
Bullion/gold
Ceylon 5 Rupees
A 1957 Ceylon silver 5 Rupees marking 2500 years of Buddhism, with a large 2500 on one side and RUPEES CEYLON with the 1957 date on the other.
Commemorative
Pakistan 5 Rupees
A brass Pakistani five-rupee coin with a large numeral 5 set in an ornamental frame and Islamic-style Urdu calligraphy around both faces.
South Asia
Australian Crown
Australia's only crown (five-shilling) coin, a large sterling-silver piece struck in 1937 and 1938 with a George VI portrait and a crown reverse.
Australian
Tetradrachm of Eretria
A silver tetradrachm attributed to Eretria on Euboea, pairing the head of a female figure with a standing bull and the Greek legend EYBOIA.
Ancient
Roman Quadrans
A small Roman bronze quadrans, worth a quarter of an as, here a heavily corroded piece with a laureate head facing right.
Ancient
Corieltauvi Stater
A gold stater of the Corieltauvi tribe of Iron Age Britain, with an abstracted head on the obverse and a stylized horse and symbols on the reverse.
Ancient
Alexander the Great Gold Quarter Stater
A small gold fraction of the Alexander the Great coinage, showing the head of Heracles and an eagle perched on a thunderbolt, the attributes of Zeus.
Ancient
Roman Quinarius
A small Roman silver quinarius, half the value of a denarius, here with a helmeted head of Roma and a prancing horse on the reverse.
Ancient
Corinthian Stater
Silver stater of ancient Corinth showing the winged horse Pegasos on one side and the helmeted head of Athena on the other.
Ancient Coins
1 Escudo
Portugal's first silver escudo, struck in 1910 to mark the founding of the Republic, with an allegorical female head and the crowned national shield.
Modern