Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Guinea
Historic British gold coin named for the West African region that supplied much of its gold, valued at 21 shillings for most of its history and predecessor to the modern sovereign.
British
Eukratides I Gold Stater (Baktria)
A gold stater of Eukratides I, the powerful Greco-Bactrian king best known for issuing the largest gold coin surviving from antiquity, depicting the divine twins Dioskouroi on horseback.
Ancient
Draped Bust Half Cent
An early U.S. copper coin depicting a draped bust of Liberty, struck for everyday small change in the first decade of the 19th century.
United States
German Prussia 20 Mark Gold
The standard gold coin of Prussia within the newly unified German Empire, featuring successive Prussian kings and forming a key part of the empire's gold mark system.
European
Selinus (Selinunte) River God Tetradrachm
Silver coinage of the Sicilian city of Selinus, notable for depicting the local river god sacrificing at an altar, along with the celery leaf that puns on the city's name.
Ancient
Half Farthing
A tiny copper coin worth one-eighth of a penny, struck mainly for use in colonial Ceylon during the reigns of George IV, William IV, and Victoria.
British
British Guinea
England's premier gold coin for over 150 years, named for the West African region that supplied much of its gold and eventually valued at 21 shillings.
British
Delhi Sultanate Silver Tanka
The standard silver coin of the medieval Delhi Sultanate, bearing Arabic inscriptions naming the ruling sultan, and a forerunner of later Indian silver denominations.
Asian
Umayyad Silver Dirham
A silver coin of the Umayyad Caliphate struck after Caliph Abd al-Malik's monetary reform, bearing only Arabic inscriptions and setting the template for centuries of Islamic coinage.
World
Virginia Halfpenny
An official royal copper coinage struck in London specifically for the Colony of Virginia, showing King George III, whose distribution was disrupted by the approaching American Revolution.
United States
Venezuela Bolivar Silver (Bolívar Fuerte)
A large silver five-bolívares coin nicknamed the "fuerte" (strong) for its full weight and fineness, featuring a portrait of independence hero Simón Bolívar.
Latin American
Netherlands Rijksdaalder Gulden
The 2.5 guilder coin of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, carrying forward the historic rijksdaalder name through the monarchy era until the euro's adoption.
European
Ryal
A large Scottish silver coin issued under Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, nicknamed the 'sword dollar' for the crowned sword on its reverse.
British
Flowing Hair Half Dime
One of the earliest United States silver coins, the Flowing Hair Half Dime was struck only in 1794 and 1795 and is a landmark rarity for early American coinage collectors.
United States
1794 Flowing Hair Half Dime
One of the very first silver coins struck for circulation by the United States Mint, bearing the Flowing Hair Liberty design and a small eagle reverse.
United States
German Empire 20 Mark Gold (Wilhelm II)
The standard gold coin of the German Empire under Kaiser Wilhelm II, struck at multiple state mints and widely collected for its imperial portrait and eagle reverse.
European
Farthing
The smallest-value British bronze coin, worth a quarter of a penny, fondly remembered for its charming wren reverse design used from 1937 until its withdrawal.
British
1842-O Small Date Seated Liberty Quarter
A famous condition and date rarity of the Seated Liberty series, struck at New Orleans from leftover small-date dies originally prepared for Philadelphia proof coinage.
United States
British Gold Guinea
Struck from 1663 to 1814 and named for the West African gold used in its earliest issues, the guinea was Britain's leading gold coin and gave its name to a unit of value still referenced today.
British
Broad
A gold twenty-shilling coin nicknamed the 'Broad' for its wide, thin flan, struck under the Commonwealth and Oliver Cromwell and continued briefly into the early reign of Charles II.
British
Venezuela 5 Bolivares 'Fuerte' Silver
A high-purity Venezuelan silver crown struck in 1911–1912, nicknamed the 'Fuerte' (strong) issue for restoring .900 fineness after decades of debased coinage.
Latin American
Victorian Silver Five Cents
The small sterling silver five-cent coin struck under Queen Victoria for the Province of Canada and later the Dominion of Canada, issued intermittently from 1858 to 1901.
Canadian
Lincoln Memorial Cent
The long-running Lincoln cent reverse featuring the Lincoln Memorial, used for half a century and one of the most commonly encountered coins in American pockets and collections.
United States
Swiss 20 Franc Vreneli
Switzerland's classic gold franc coin, depicting a young Swiss woman nicknamed Vreneli on the obverse and the Swiss shield on the reverse, a favorite of gold savers for over a century.
European