Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Almoravid Gold Dinar
Pure-gold dinar of the Almoravid dynasty, struck in Islamic Spain and North Africa with concentric Arabic legends; this piece is dated 1116 CE.
Medieval Islamic
Ottoman Silver Coin
A silver coin of the Ottoman Empire bearing the sultan's tughra monogram amid floral ornament, with Arabic-script inscriptions on the reverse.
World
Gold Dinar of Alp Arslan
A hand-struck Islamic gold coin of the Great Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan, covered in concentric Arabic inscriptions naming the ruler and caliph, AH 455–465.
Islamic
Gold Dinar of Al-Walid I
An early Islamic gold dinar struck under the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I (705-715 CE), bearing only Arabic Kufic inscriptions and no images on either face.
Islamic (Medieval)
Barakah Copper Fals
A medieval Islamic copper fals carrying purely Arabic calligraphy, including the pious word barakah (“blessing”), with no portrait or figural image.
Islamic (Medieval)
Gold Dinar of Jaqmaq
A hand-struck Mamluk gold dinar of Sultan al-Zahir Jaqmaq (r. 1438-1453 CE), covered in Arabic calligraphy with no figural imagery; this example is pierced.
Islamic (Medieval)
Gold Dinar of al-Muqtadi
An aniconic Abbasid gold dinar of Caliph al-Muqtadi, covered on both faces with Arabic calligraphy and ornamental borders, struck in the later 11th century.
Islamic (Medieval)
Copper Fals of Shaban II
A Mamluk copper fals struck under Sultan al-Ashraf Sha'ban II of Egypt, decorated with geometric ornament and Arabic legends rather than any figural image.
Islamic (Medieval)
Marinid Gold Dinar
Aniconic Islamic gold dinar of the Marinid dynasty of Morocco, its faces filled with Arabic religious inscriptions framed by geometric border bands.
Medieval Islamic
Dirham of Sistan
A silver Umayyad dirham struck at the Sijistan (Sistan) mint in AH 82 (701–702 CE), its faces filled with Kufic Arabic inscriptions ringed by concentric borders.
Islamic (Medieval)
Dirham of Hasan ibn Zayd
A 9th-century Islamic silver dirham struck for Hasan ibn Zayd, the Alid ruler of Tabaristan, bearing concentric Arabic religious and authority legends.
Islamic (Medieval)
Abbasi of Shah Sultan Husayn
A hand-struck Safavid silver abbasi of Shah Sultan Husayn, covered entirely in flowing Persian-Arabic calligraphy with jeweled borders and no portrait.
Persia / Iran
Egyptian 20 Piastres Commemorative
A cupro-nickel Egyptian 20 piastres commemorative dated 1980, with an ornate Arabic calligraphic obverse and a heraldic double-headed eagle reverse.
World
Gold Dinar of Malik Shah I
A hand-struck Seljuk gold dinar naming Malik Shah I (r. 1072–1092), covered in Arabic inscriptions with the ruler's titles and genealogy and an ornamental cartouche.
Islamic (Medieval)
Gold Dinar of Abu'l-Fawaris Ahmad (Buyid)
A hand-struck gold dinar of the Iranian Buyid dynasty, naming the emir Abu'l-Fawaris Ahmad and dated AH 358, covered entirely in Kufic Arabic with no imagery.
Islamic (Medieval)
Copper Fals of Muzaffar Hajji
A worn medieval Islamic copper fals bearing Arabic calligraphy and the name of the ruler al-Muzaffar Hajji, an aniconic base-metal coin used as everyday small change.
Islamic (Medieval)
Ilkhanid Dirham of Ghazan
A silver dirham of the Mongol Ilkhanate struck for Ghazan Khan, with an ornamental cartouche bearing the ruler's name and concentric Arabic and Persian inscriptions.
Islamic (Medieval)
Silver Dirham (LACMA M.2002.1.437)
A thin, broad 8th-century Islamic silver dirham covered in Kufic Arabic inscriptions, with no portrait or image — only religious legends and decorative flourishes.
Islamic (Medieval)
India Half Pice
A small copper half pice from India carrying a crowned obverse with the word INDIA; the pice is a sub-unit of the old pre-decimal Indian coinage system.
Modern India
Hryvnia
Medieval silver money unit of Kievan Rus, circulating as cast silver ingots and weight-money rather than as a struck, portrait-bearing coin.
Medieval