Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
American Gold Buffalo
The first 24-karat gold coin struck by the U.S. Mint, adapting James Earle Fraser's classic Buffalo Nickel design for a modern bullion product.
Bullion
British Silver Britannia
The Royal Mint's one-ounce silver bullion coin, launched in 1997 as a silver companion to the Gold Britannia, featuring the same classical Britannia design.
Bullion
1987 Loon Dollar (Aureate)
Canada's first modern circulating dollar coin, introduced in 1987 to replace the paper dollar bill and nicknamed "the Loonie" after the common loon depicted on its reverse.
Canadian
Fifty Pence
The UK's distinctive seven-sided 50p coin, introduced in 1969 to replace the ten shilling note ahead of decimalisation.
British
Abbasid Gold Dinar
The standard gold coin of the Abbasid Caliphate centered on Baghdad, inscribed entirely in Arabic script and struck for roughly five centuries across a vast Islamic empire.
World
Fatimid Gold Dinar
A high-purity gold coin of the Ismaili Shia Fatimid Caliphate, historically prized for its consistent fineness and widely trusted in medieval Mediterranean trade.
World
Indian Punch-Marked Karshapana
Among the earliest coins of South Asia, irregular silver bars struck repeatedly with multiple unrelated symbol punches rather than a single unified design.
Ancient
Netherlands 2½ Gulden
The largest regularly circulating silver coin of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, popularly nicknamed "rijksdaalder," featuring the reigning monarch's portrait across more than a century of Dutch coinage.
European
Indo-Greek Silver Drachm (Menander)
A silver drachm of Menander I, the most famous Indo-Greek king, known for bilingual Greek and Kharoshthi legends and a portrait bust with helmet.
Ancient
Japanese Wado Kaichin
Japan's earliest officially minted coin, cast in 708 AD in imitation of Tang Chinese cash, with a round shape and square center hole.
Asian
Chinese Ming Dynasty Cash (Hong Wu Tong Bao)
The founding cash coin of the Ming Dynasty, issued under the Hongwu Emperor, marking the restoration of native Han Chinese rule after the collapse of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.
Asian
Canadian Loonie
Canada's eleven-sided one dollar coin, introduced in 1987 with a common loon on the reverse, giving rise to its popular nickname.
Canadian
Italian 10 Lire (Silver)
Kingdom of Italy silver 10 Lire coin, best known for the 1926–1930 'Biga' type showing a two-horse chariot, struck under Vittorio Emanuele III.
European
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
Spanish Gold Doubloon
A popular name for large Spanish colonial gold coins, typically two, four, or eight escudos, forever associated with pirate treasure and sunken Spanish galleons.
World
1804 Draped Bust Silver Dollar
Extraordinarily rare U.S. dollar known as "The King of American Coins," actually struck decades after its 1804 date for diplomatic gift sets and later collectors, with only 15 known examples.
United States
Armenian Silver Noah's Ark
A biblically themed silver bullion coin issued by the Central Bank of Armenia, referencing Mount Ararat's traditional association with Noah's Ark.
World
British Silver Lunar Series
The Royal Mint's own Chinese zodiac-themed silver bullion series, launched in 2014 as a rival to the long-established Perth Mint Lunar coins.
British
Peruvian Sol de Oro
Peru's long-running national currency unit, the Sol de Oro, was issued as coinage from the 1860s through the mid-1980s in both silver and later base-metal forms.
Latin American
Half Guinea
Smaller companion gold coin to the guinea, worth half its value, struck across the same reigns from Charles II through George III for mid-value transactions.
British
Gold Half Sovereign
Smaller companion to the gold sovereign, struck since 1817 at half the weight and value, sharing the same monarch portraits and often the same St George reverse design.
British
British Britannia
The United Kingdom's official gold and silver bullion coin, featuring the classical helmeted figure of Britannia, issued by the Royal Mint since 1987.
Bullion
Britannia (Silver Bullion)
The Royal Mint's modern one-ounce silver bullion coin, featuring the classical figure of Britannia, popular with investors and design collectors worldwide.
Bullion
Aegina Land Tortoise Stater
A silver stater from the island of Aegina bearing a land tortoise, successor to the earlier sea-turtle design and among the earliest widely circulated coinages in the Greek world.
Ancient