Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Pahlavi Reign Gold Medal
A gold medal of Pahlavi-era Iran, its obverse a left-facing royal portrait and its reverse the Lion and Sun beneath a crown, dated 1971.
Persia / Iran
Ceylon 5 Rupees
A 1957 Ceylon silver 5 Rupees marking 2500 years of Buddhism, with a large 2500 on one side and RUPEES CEYLON with the 1957 date on the other.
Commemorative
Short Cross Penny
Hammered silver penny of Henry II showing a crowned facing-left royal portrait and a cross-crosslet (cross-and-crosslets) reverse.
Medieval Coins
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
Sarawak One Cent
A large copper cent of the Brooke Rajahs of Sarawak, showing the Rajah's portrait on the obverse and SARAWAK ONE CENT with a wreath and the year 1870.
Colonial
Mary I Groat
Hammered silver fourpence of Mary I (1553-1558), with her crowned bust left and the royal arms over a cross on the reverse.
Hammered
Australian Penny
Large bronze pre-decimal Australian penny with a leaping kangaroo, AUSTRALIA and PENNY on one side and a monarch's bust on the other.
World Coins
Alexander the Great Silver Drachm
Silver drachm in the name of Alexander the Great, with the head of young Herakles in a lion skin and Zeus enthroned on the reverse.
Ancient
8 Reales (Portrait/Bust Type)
Large silver Spanish Empire dollar showing the bust of King Carlos III and a crowned coat of arms with lions and castles.
World Coins
50 Öre (Silver)
A small Swedish silver 50 ore of the Oscar II era, dated 1898, with the value and date in a laurel wreath on one side and the crowned Swedish arms on the other.
Modern
5 Francs Ceres
France's large silver 5 francs bearing the wreathed head of Cérès, goddess of the harvest, with the value framed by laurel on the reverse.
Circulation
British Crown
A large George V silver crown of the 1927–1936 'wreath' type, showing the king's profile and a royal crown framed by an ornamental wreath.
British Isles
Medieval Coin
A worn hammered silver coin of the medieval era, with faded profile, legends, and a heraldic or emblematic reverse.
Hammered
Mexican 1 Peso
Large silver Mexican peso, the famed "Caballito" type, with a winged Victory on horseback and the eagle-and-snake coat of arms.
World Coins
Qajar 5 Tomans Commemorative
A late Qajar gold 5 Tomans of Persia showing Ahmad Shah Qajar in a laurel wreath and the national Lion emblem, dated 1299.
Persia / Iran
East India Company Half Anna
Large copper Half Anna of the East India Company, dated 1835, with laurel-wreath legend and the Company's heraldic lion-and-shield arms.
British India
Venezuelan Silver Coin (1879)
An 1879 Venezuelan silver coin: the left-facing head of Simón Bolívar on one side and the national coat of arms in a wreath on the other.
Circulation
Chilean Peso (1875 Type)
A silver one-peso coin of Chile: the national coat of arms with its lone star and laurel wreaths on one side, and a large bird in flight on the other.
Circulation
Charles I Half Crown
A large hammered silver half crown of Charles I, showing the king in portrait facing left and a crowned royal shield on the reverse.
Hammered
Sestertius of Maximinus Thrax
Large Roman bronze sestertius of Maximinus Thrax (235-238 AD), the first soldier-emperor, with a laureate bust facing right.
Ancient
Sestertius of Antoninus Pius
Large Roman bronze coin of Emperor Antoninus Pius, with his bearded profile head and a standing deity or figure on the reverse.
Ancient Coins
Nummus of Magnentius
A late Roman bronze struck for the usurper Magnentius (AD 350-353), noted for its bold bare-headed portrait and large Chi-Rho reverses.
Ancient
Denarius of Septimius Severus
Silver denarius of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus (193–211 AD), showing his laureate head and a standing reverse figure.
Ancient
Denarius of Severus Alexander
Silver denarius of the emperor Severus Alexander (AD 222–235), with his laureate portrait and a Mars reverse dated to about AD 229.
Ancient