Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
1948 Franklin Half Dollar
The debut year of the Franklin half dollar, featuring Benjamin Franklin's portrait and the Liberty Bell, designed by Mint engraver John R. Sinnock.
United States
1921-D Mercury Dime
A key-date silver dime from a post-WWI recession year when Denver struck only a small number of Mercury dimes, making it a cornerstone of the series.
United States
1874-CC Seated Liberty Dime
A rare Carson City dime with arrows at the date, struck in small numbers and highly prized as one of the great condition rarities among CC-mint dimes.
United States
1802 Draped Bust Half Dime
One of the great rarities of early U.S. coinage, with an extremely small original mintage and only a handful of genuine survivors known today.
United States
1866 Shield Nickel With Rays
The first-year Shield Nickel design featuring thirteen rays between the reverse stars, marking the debut of the United States' first copper-nickel five-cent coin.
United States
1912-S Liberty Head Nickel
The only Liberty Head V Nickel struck at the San Francisco Mint and the lowest-mintage business strike of the entire series, making it a major key date.
United States
Julian II Bull Bronze
A large bronze maiorina of Julian the Apostate with a bull reverse, associated with his brief attempt to revive traditional pagan worship in Rome.
Ancient
Septimius Severus Denarius
Silver denarius of Septimius Severus, African-born founder of the Severan dynasty, who rose to power through the civil wars following Commodus's death.
Ancient
Panticapaeum Gold Stater (Pan/Griffin)
Gold stater of Panticapaeum, capital of the Bosporan Kingdom on the Crimean peninsula, showing the bearded head of Pan and a griffin standing on a grain ear.
Ancient
1895-O Barber Dime
The key date of the Barber dime series, struck in unusually small numbers at the New Orleans Mint and scarce in every grade of preservation.
United States
1892 Barber Quarter
The first-year issue of the Barber quarter series, introducing Charles Barber's new Liberty Head design after the retirement of the earlier Seated Liberty quarter.
United States
1875-CC Twenty-Cent Piece
A Carson City strike of the short-lived US twenty-cent piece, valued both for its unusual denomination and its Wild West mint origin.
United States
2008 Hawaii State Quarter
The final release of the 50 State Quarters Program, honoring Hawaii with an image of King Kamehameha I extending his hand over the Hawaiian islands.
United States
2004 Wisconsin State Quarter Extra Leaf
A famous modern variety of the 2004 Wisconsin state quarter showing an unexplained extra leaf on the corn cob, found in both 'low leaf' and 'high leaf' forms.
Errors & Varieties
1950-D/S Washington Quarter Overmintmark
A famous mid-century mintmark error where a Denver quarter die was first punched with an S mintmark and then re-punched with a D, leaving traces of both letters visible.
Errors & Varieties
Lincoln Bicentennial Cent (2009)
A one-year series of four different reverse designs issued in 2009 to mark the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth and the centennial of the Lincoln cent.
Commemorative
1864 Two-Cent Piece
The debut year of the two-cent piece, the first US coin to bear the motto In God We Trust, issued in Small Motto and Large Motto varieties.
United States
Egyptian Qirsh (Muhammad Ali Era)
Silver-billon piastre struck in Egypt under Muhammad Ali Pasha in the name of the Ottoman Sultan, reflecting Egypt's growing autonomy within the empire.
Africa & Oceania
Ottoman Kurus (Piastre)
The standard Ottoman monetary unit for centuries, struck in silver or base metal bearing the sultan's tughra, later becoming a subunit of the Ottoman lira after 1844.
World
Egyptian 10 Piastres (silver)
A workhorse silver coin of Khedival, Sultanate, and Kingdom-era Egypt, one-tenth of a pound and commonly found in worn circulated grades from decades of daily use.
Africa & Oceania
Australian Penny (1930)
Regarded as the key date of Australian pre-decimal coinage, the 1930 penny is famous for an exceptionally small mintage during the Great Depression.
Africa & Oceania
1918/7-D Buffalo Nickel
One of the most famous overdate errors in United States coinage, showing 1918 struck over an earlier 1917 date on a Buffalo nickel die reused at the Denver Mint.
Errors & Varieties
1971 Doubled Die Obverse Lincoln Cent
A doubled die obverse Lincoln cent from 1971 showing clear doubling in the date and lettering, one of several notable doubled die varieties struck during the early 1970s.
Errors & Varieties
1888/7 Morgan Dollar Overdate
A collector-recognized overdate die variety of the 1888 Morgan silver dollar, cataloged among the VAM series of Morgan dollar die varieties for specialists to pursue.
Errors & Varieties