Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Koban with Dutch East Indies Counterstamp
An Edo-period Japanese gold koban bearing later punched marks, including a Japanese character cartouche and a Dutch coat-of-arms counterstamp.
Colonial
Quarter Angel of Elizabeth I
A small Elizabethan gold coin of the early 1580s showing a crowned portrait of the queen and a cross set with heraldic shields.
Hammered
California Diamond Jubilee Half Dollar
A 1925 U.S. silver commemorative half dollar marking California's 75th year of statehood, designed by Jo Mora with a gold miner and a grizzly bear.
Classic Commemorative
Keicho Oban
A large, thin oval Japanese gold oban of the Keicho era, hammer-marked with horizontal striations and bearing brush-inked ink signatures and paulownia crests.
Historic
4 Escudos
Spanish Bourbon gold 4 Escudos of the 1780s, with an armored royal bust facing right and a crowned coat of arms on the reverse.
Early Modern
Half Laurel
Hammered English gold ten-shilling piece of James I, named for the king's laureate portrait; the half of the full Laurel denomination.
Hammered
Ultra High Relief Double Eagle
Augustus Saint-Gaudens' 1907 $20 gold pattern struck in sculptural ultra high relief, with striding Liberty and a soaring eagle.
Gold Type Coin
Broad
A gold twenty-shilling coin of the Protectorate bearing Oliver Cromwell's Roman-style profile and a crowned quartered shield, dated 1656.
Hammered
Ecu of Louis XIV
A large silver crown of Louis XIV, the Sun King, showing his laureate or wigged bust facing left and a crowned French shield of fleur-de-lis, dated 1693.
Royal
Colombia 8 Escudos (Base Metal)
A base-metal (copper-alloy) piece styled after the colonial Colombian 8 escudos gold onza, with a Charles III profile and crowned heraldic arms dated 1760.
Colonial
Contemporary Forgery of Louis XVI Ecu
A period-style counterfeit imitating a Louis XVI silver ecu: a copied royal portrait obverse and a copied standing-figure reverse dated about 1792.
Forgery
60 Kreuzer Guldiner
A gold 60 Kreuzer Guldiner of the Holy Roman Empire dated 1568, showing Emperor Maximilian II in plumed armor in right profile.
German States
Crown of the Double Rose
A hammered Tudor gold crown of Henry VIII, valued at five shillings and named for the crowned double Tudor rose that defines its design.
Hammered
Empire 20 Pesos
A gold 20 pesos of the Second Mexican Empire, showing a bearded imperial portrait, the legend IMPERIO MEXICANO, and a crowned heraldic coat of arms.
Circulation
Bermuda Edward VIII Fantasy Crown
A modern fantasy Bermuda crown dated 1936 with an Edward VIII profile and a three-masted sailing ship; a gold-plated novelty, not an official coin.
Fantasy Issue
Spade Guinea
A late George III gold guinea named for the distinctive spade-shaped shield on its reverse, struck in England from 1787 into the early 1800s.
Milled
Ecu of Louis XVI
A large French silver ecu of Louis XVI dated 1784: left-facing royal bust obverse, crowned arms of France and Navarre framed by laurel on the reverse.
Royal
100 Forint (Commemorative)
A Hungarian bi-metallic 100 Forint commemorative pairing the national coat of arms with a bird of prey in flight, struck in a gold-toned ring and pale center.
Commemorative
Half Guinea of Anne
An English milled gold half guinea of Queen Anne, showing her left-facing bust and a crowned cruciform reverse of shields with fleurs-de-lis.
Milled
Counterfeit Guinea
A base-metal (copper or brass) imitation of a George III gold guinea, struck or cast to deceive, showing a right-facing bust and a heraldic shield reverse.
Counterfeit
Austria-Hungary 1/4 Kreuzer
A small copper 1/4 Kreuzer of the Austrian Empire dated 1816, showing Emperor Franz I in crowned right-facing profile.
Circulation
Denier of Charles the Bald
A small hammered silver denier of the Carolingian king Charles the Bald (r. 840–877), pairing a cross or monogram design with a ruler's profile.
Medieval
Peace Dollar
U.S. 90% silver dollar first struck in 1921, with a radiant-crowned Liberty head and a perched eagle over the word PEACE.
Dollar
Denier of Charlemagne
A hand-struck silver denier of Charlemagne, king of the Franks: a central cross ringed by the CARLVS REX FR legend, with a royal monogram design on the reverse.
Medieval