Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
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
Victorian Crown
Large Victorian silver crown showing Queen Victoria's veiled "Old Head" portrait and Pistrucci's Saint George slaying the dragon, dated 1893.
World Coins
Ancient Hellenistic Tetradrachm
A large Hellenistic silver tetradrachm with a bearded, curly-haired head on the obverse and an eagle standing on a thunderbolt on the reverse.
Ancient
Bill of Rights Silver Dollar
A 1993 U.S. silver dollar honoring the bicentennial of the Bill of Rights, showing a Liberty figure with torch and flags and an eagle above Montpelier.
Modern Commemorative
Kennedy Half Dollar
U.S. fifty-cent piece introduced in 1964 to honor President John F. Kennedy; the first-year 1964 coins were struck in 90% silver.
United States
Macedonian Silver Tetradrachm
Large silver tetradrachm of ancient Macedon in the Alexander type, c. 188-170 BC, with the head of Heracles in a lion skin and Zeus enthroned holding an eagle.
Ancient
Sestertius of Didius Julianus
A large bronze/orichalcum sestertius of Didius Julianus, the emperor who reigned only weeks in 193 AD — rare, historically charged, and much sought after.
Ancient
Duro (5 Pesetas)
A large .900 silver five-peseta crown struck under Spain's Provisional Government, with a profile head personifying Hispania and a crowned coat of arms reverse.
Modern
Joachimsthaler (Thaler)
A large early-16th-century Bohemian silver thaler from Joachimsthal, dated 1525; the coin whose name gave rise to the words 'thaler' and 'dollar'.
Early Modern
Hanover 2/3 Thaler
A large German States silver 2/3 Thaler of Brunswick-Luneburg (Hanover) dated 1694, with an ornate coat of arms and the leaping Saxon horse reverse.
German States
Erstein Notgeld 5 Pfennigs
A World War I emergency small-change coin issued by the town of Erstein in 1917, with the civic coat of arms on one side and a large 5 on the other.
Token/notgeld
James VI Ryal
A large hammered silver Scottish ryal of James VI, showing a crowned lion-rampant shield and a mailed swordhand grasping an upright sword, dated 1569.
Hammered
Charles II Crown
Milled English silver crown of Charles II (reigned 1660-1685), a large machine-struck five-shilling piece with a laureate bust and cruciform shields.
Milled
Keicho Oban
A large, thin oval Japanese gold oban of the Keicho era, hammer-marked with horizontal striations and bearing brush-inked ink signatures and paulownia crests.
Historic
Ho-Nan 100 Cash
A large struck bronze 100-cash coin of Henan Province from Republican China, with ornate Chinese characters on one face and a decorative pattern on the other.
Cash Coin
Nemausus As/Dupondius (Crocodile Type)
The famous crocodile of Nimes: a large Roman provincial bronze with paired heads of Agrippa and Augustus and a crocodile chained to a palm.
Ancient
Mexican 1 Peso
Large silver Mexican peso, the famed "Caballito" type, with a winged Victory on horseback and the eagle-and-snake coat of arms.
World Coins
Newfoundland Two Dollars
Small gold two-dollar coin of the colony of Newfoundland; the only circulating coin ever denominated in dollars, cents, and pence together.
Canadian & Provincial
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
U.S. Gold Five Dollar (Half Eagle)
Modern U.S. $5 gold coin: Saint-Gaudens striding Liberty with torch on the obverse and a soaring eagle reverse; this piece is dated 1987.
Us
Franklin Pierce Presidential Dollar
Golden-colored U.S. dollar from the Presidential $1 Coin series, honoring Franklin Pierce, the 14th President, with a Statue of Liberty reverse.
Dollar
Sestertius of Caligula
Large Roman imperial bronze sestertius bearing the head of Gaius, better known as Caligula, struck during his short reign from 37 to 41 AD.
Ancient Coins
Ecu of Louis XVI
A large French silver ecu of Louis XVI dated 1784: left-facing royal bust obverse, crowned arms of France and Navarre framed by laurel on the reverse.
Royal
Charles I Unite
A large hammered gold coin of Charles I worth twenty shillings, showing his crowned profile and a crowned quartered shield of lions and fleur-de-lis.
Hammered