Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
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
2000-P Sacagawea/Washington Quarter Mule
An extraordinarily rare mint error pairing the golden Sacagawea dollar obverse with a Washington quarter reverse die, one of the most famous modern mule errors in U.S. coinage.
Errors & Varieties
Colombian 8 Escudos Gold (Popayán)
A large colonial gold doubloon struck at the historic Popayán mint in present-day Colombia, prized by collectors as one of the classic Spanish colonial gold coins of South America.
Latin American
Penny
One of the oldest and most iconic British denominations, the pre-decimal penny is famous for its large bronze Britannia design and beloved key dates like the 1933 penny.
British
Ides of March Denarius (EID MAR)
A denarius struck by Brutus in 42 BC commemorating Julius Caesar's assassination, showing daggers and a liberty cap — one of the most famous and valuable ancient coins ever made.
Ancient
1853 Seated Liberty Quarter (Arrows and Rays)
A popular one-year Seated Liberty type marked by arrows at the date and rays around the eagle, signaling a reduction in the coin's silver weight mandated by the Coinage Act of 1853.
United States
Chinese Cash Coin (Qing Dynasty 'Kangxi Tongbao')
Classic cast bronze cash coin bearing the reign title of Emperor Kangxi, struck across many provincial mints during one of the longest reigns in Chinese history.
Asian
Indian Head Quarter Eagle ($2.50)
A small gold coin featuring Bela Lyon Pratt's distinctive incuse Native American design, one of only two U.S. denominations ever struck with recessed devices.
United States
Japanese Koban
A hand-hammered oval gold coin used in feudal Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate, valued at one ryo and stamped with ink calligraphy certifying its weight and fineness.
Asian
New Zealand Waitangi Crown (1935)
Rare 1935 New Zealand silver crown depicting the meeting between Governor Hobson and Maori chiefs, one of the most valuable coins in British Commonwealth crown collecting.
Africa & Oceania
1918/7-S Standing Liberty Quarter Overdate
One of the most famous overdate varieties in U.S. coinage, where a leftover 1917 die was re-punched with an 1918 date, leaving remnants of the 7 visible beneath the 8.
Errors & Varieties
Quarter Guinea
A rarely issued small gold coin worth one-quarter of a guinea, struck only in 1718 under George I and again briefly in 1762 under George III.
British
1946-S/D Jefferson Nickel Repunched Mintmark
A hand-punched mintmark variety on the 1946 Jefferson nickel showing remnants of a D beneath the final S, created when a die intended for one mint was repunched with another mintmark.
Errors & Varieties
Byzantine Gold Tremissis
A small gold fractional coin worth one-third of a solidus, widely struck across the early Byzantine world and imitated by Germanic successor kingdoms in the former Western Roman Empire.
Ancient
Chinese Wu Zhu Cash
One of history's longest-running coin types, cast continuously for over seven centuries across multiple Chinese dynasties after its introduction under Emperor Wu of Han.
Ancient
1873-CC Seated Liberty Quarter (No Arrows)
One of the great rarities of the Seated Liberty quarter series, this tiny Carson City issue predates the mid-1873 arrows-at-date modification and survives in only a handful of known examples.
United States
1827 Capped Bust Quarter
One of the most celebrated rarities in American numismatics, the 1827 quarter exists only as extremely rare proof-like Originals and later Restrikes rather than typical circulation coinage.
United States
1950-S/D Washington Quarter Overmintmark
A 1950 San Francisco Washington quarter struck from a die where an S mintmark was punched over a leftover D, creating one of the best-known overmintmark errors in the series.
Errors & Varieties
Spade Guinea
A George III gold guinea nicknamed for its spade-shaped shield reverse, one of the last widely circulated guinea types before the denomination was phased out in the early 1800s.
British
Mende Dionysos on Donkey Tetradrachm
A striking Classical-era silver tetradrachm from the wine-city of Mende, showing the wine-god Dionysos reclining drunkenly on a donkey, one of ancient coinage's most whimsical designs.
Ancient
1885 Trade Dollar
One of the rarest official United States coins, a proof-only issue struck years after the Trade dollar series had officially ended, with only a handful of examples known.
United States
1999 Susan B. Anthony Dollar
A one-year revival of the Susan B. Anthony dollar, struck in 1999 to meet demand for dollar coins in vending and transit use before the Sacagawea dollar's launch the following year.
United States
Japanese Nishu-kin (gold coin)
Small rectangular gold coin from Tokugawa Japan valued at two shu, or one-eighth of a ryo, part of a fractional gold denomination system unique to Edo-period currency.
Asian
Brasher Doubloon
A famous privately struck gold coin made in 1787 by New York goldsmith Ephraim Brasher, a neighbor of George Washington, and one of the most valuable and celebrated coins in American numismatics.
United States