Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Canadian Ten Cents
Small silver Canadian dime with the Bluenose schooner reverse and an early Queen Elizabeth II portrait; the pictured coin is dated 1955.
Canadian & Provincial
Isle of Man Noble
The Isle of Man Noble: the world's first platinum bullion coin, pairing a crowned Queen Elizabeth II with a Viking longship reverse.
Bullion
Ghana 20 Pesewas
A one-year 1967 Ghanaian coin bearing a national eagle and the motto FREEDOM AND JUSTICE, with the country's coat-of-arms shield on the reverse.
World
Bicentennial Quarter
U.S. 25-cent coin issued for the 1976 Bicentennial, pairing Washington's portrait with a Colonial drummer and the dual date 1776-1976.
Quarter
Triple Unite
The largest English hammered gold coin, struck for Charles I during the Civil War and valued at 60 shillings (three pounds).
Hammered
British Florin
A Victorian silver two-shilling florin with a crowned, veiled Victoria and a heraldic crowned-shields reverse; the pictured coin is dated 1890.
World
Ottoman Manghir
The manghir was the small copper coin of the Ottoman Empire, used for everyday change; this example bears a tughra and dates to the reign of Murad II.
Medieval Islamic
Maria Theresa Thaler
A large silver Austrian trade coin bearing the bust of Empress Maria Theresa, famously frozen at the date 1780 and restruck for centuries.
World
East African 5 Cents
A holed copper-nickel colonial coin with a crown above scrollwork and EAST AFRICA lettering, issued by the East African Currency Board.
World
Travancore One Chuckram
Small copper one-chuckram coin of the princely state of Travancore, with the royal conch-shell emblem and a local-script denomination reverse.
Princely & Presidency States
Byzantine Nummus of Tiberius Constantine
A small bronze coin of Byzantine emperor Tiberius II Constantine (AD 578-582), with an imperial portrait or inscription and a mark of value or monogram.
Ancient
25 Euro (Bionik)
Austria's 2012 silver-niobium 25 euro coin, part of the Silver Niobium Series, with a purple niobium core and a Bionik (bionics) theme.
Commemorative
New Zealand Florin
New Zealand's silver two-shilling coin; this 1933 first-year example shows a kiwi and the legend NEW ZEALAND ONE FLORIN.
New Zealand
Papua New Guinea 5 Kina
Papua New Guinea's 1975 five-kina coin: Queen Elizabeth II in profile on the obverse, a bird-of-paradise with the K5 denomination on the reverse.
Circulation
India 10 Rupees
A silver-era Indian coin carrying the profile of King George VI, struck during the final years of British India and the transition to the Republic.
Circulation
Barbados 10 Cents
A small copper-nickel Barbadian 10-cent coin showing the national coat of arms on one side and the value and country name on the other.
Circulation
Laurel
A hammered English gold coin of James I worth twenty shillings, named for the king's laurel-wreathed profile, struck 1619-1625.
Hammered
Irish Pistole
A rare hammered gold emergency coin of 1640s Ireland, marked with its weight in pennyweights and grains rather than a portrait, and rated as a pistole.
Hammered
Half Groat of Henry VIII
A small hammered English silver coin worth twopence, struck across the reign of Henry VIII and bearing his crowned facing bust.
Hammered
Anglo-Saxon Sceatta
Tiny thick silver coin of early Anglo-Saxon England, the example showing a stylized bird with geometric patterns and symbolic reverse designs.
Medieval Coins
Double Rupi
A large Afsharid silver coin of Nader Shah, the double rupi, dated AH 1151 and covered in flowing Persian calligraphy and ornamental scrollwork.
Historic
100 Yen (Showa Silver)
Japan's first 100 Yen coin, in silver: a phoenix in flight on the obverse and a bold radiating 100 on the reverse. Dated Showa 33 (1958).
Circulation
Edward III Noble
Large medieval English gold coin of King Edward III, showing the crowned king standing in a ship and an ornate floral cross on the reverse.
Medieval Coins
Edward IV Half Angel
Medieval English gold coin of King Edward IV, half the value of the angel, showing Saint Michael slaying a dragon with a spear and shield.
Medieval Coins