Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
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
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
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
Yemeni Riyal (Ahmadi/Imadi Kingdom Coinage)
Silver riyal coinage struck under Yemen's ruling imams in the Mutawakkilite Kingdom period, following the traditional weight standard of the Maria Theresa thaler.
Asian
Chinese Silver Dragon Dollar (Kwangtung Province)
One of China's earliest machine-struck silver dollars, produced by Kwangtung province in the late Qing dynasty with an imperial dragon design, a pioneering issue other provinces soon imitated.
Asian
1931-S Lincoln Wheat Cent
A Great Depression-era key date with a comparatively low mintage from the San Francisco Mint, long recognized as one of the more important dates in the Lincoln Wheat cent series.
United States
Cartwheel Penny (1797)
A massive, one-ounce copper penny struck in 1797 by Matthew Boulton's Soho Mint, nicknamed the Cartwheel Penny for its thick raised rim resembling a cart's wheel and axle.
British
1876-CC Twenty-Cent Piece
One of the great rarities of United States coinage: a Carson City twenty-cent piece of which nearly the entire mintage was melted, leaving only a small number of survivors known.
United States
1970 No S Proof Roosevelt Dime
A proof Roosevelt dime struck without its 'S' mintmark, one of a series of similar San Francisco die errors found across several years in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Errors & Varieties
1913 Liberty Head Nickel
One of the most famous rarities in American numismatics: only five examples exist of a Liberty Head nickel dated 1913, a year in which the design was officially replaced by the Buffalo nickel.
United States
1970-S Washington Quarter Proof on 1941 Canadian Quarter
One of the most famous US mint errors: a 1970-S proof Washington quarter accidentally struck over a leftover silver 1941 Canadian quarter planchet at the San Francisco Mint.
Errors & Varieties
1823/2 Capped Bust Quarter Overdate
One of the rarest die varieties in the entire United States quarter series, the 1823/2 overdate shows a 3 punched over a leftover 2, from an extremely limited production run.
Errors & Varieties
1937-D Three-Legged Buffalo Nickel
One of the most famous U.S. mint errors, this Denver-struck Buffalo Nickel variety shows the bison missing its front leg after a Mint worker over-polished a damaged die.
Errors & Varieties
1939-S Jefferson Nickel
A scarce San Francisco Jefferson Nickel from the early series, notable for being one of two tougher 1939 issues and for a well-known doubled-die reverse variety showing a doubled MONTICELLO.
United States
1983 Doubled Die Reverse Lincoln Cent
A notable doubled die variety showing bold doubling on the reverse lettering of the Lincoln Memorial cent, particularly visible on ONE CENT, from the first full year of the copper-plated zinc cent.
Errors & Varieties
1960 Large Date over Small Date Lincoln Cent
A date-size variety of the 1960 Lincoln cent in which large and small date logotypes were both used during the year, with some pieces showing evidence of one date style impressed over the other.
Errors & Varieties
Draped Bust Eagle
The formal catalog name for the first U.S. ten-dollar gold coin once it adopted a bold heraldic eagle reverse in 1797, the same coin popularly nicknamed the 'Turban Head' eagle.
United States
Chilean Peso Silver 'Condor'
Chile's standard silver peso coin, nicknamed the "condor" for the great Andean bird featured as a supporter on the national coat of arms depicted on the coin.
Latin American
Indian Head Half Eagle ($5)
A uniquely designed gold five-dollar coin featuring an incuse (recessed) design by Bela Lyon Pratt, the only U.S. circulating coin ever struck this way.
United States
Susan B. Anthony Dollar
A small-size dollar coin honoring women's suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony, notable as the first U.S. coin to depict a specific historical American woman.
United States
Trajan Denarius
The silver coin of Emperor Trajan, whose reign marked the Roman Empire's greatest territorial extent, with coin types celebrating his Dacian conquests and vast building program.
Ancient