Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Indian Head Half Eagle ($5)
A uniquely designed gold five-dollar coin featuring an incuse (recessed) design by Bela Lyon Pratt, the only U.S. circulating coin ever struck this way.
United States
1866 Seated Liberty Quarter (Motto)
The first year the motto IN GOD WE TRUST appeared on the quarter dollar, the low-mintage 1866 Philadelphia issue is a genuine key date of the Seated Liberty series.
United States
Liberty Head Half Eagle ($5)
A widely produced 19th-century gold five-dollar coin bearing Christian Gobrecht's Coronet Head design, struck across nearly every major American branch mint of the era.
United States
Draped Bust Eagle
The formal catalog name for the first U.S. ten-dollar gold coin once it adopted a bold heraldic eagle reverse in 1797, the same coin popularly nicknamed the 'Turban Head' eagle.
United States
Reichsthaler
The standard large silver coin of the Holy Roman Empire and its constituent German states from the 16th century onward, whose name is the direct linguistic ancestor of the word 'dollar.'
European
Joachimsthaler
Struck beginning in 1520 in the Bohemian silver-mining town of Joachimsthal, this large silver coin gave its name, shortened to 'thaler' and later 'dollar,' to countless currencies around the world.
European
1883 No Cents Liberty Head Nickel
The first-year Liberty Head Nickel design that omitted the word CENTS from the reverse, later infamous as the 'Racketeer Nickel' after being gold-plated and passed off as a five-dollar coin.
United States
Ecuador Sucre Silver
Ecuador's historic silver one-sucre coin, named after independence hero Antonio Jose de Sucre, circulated for decades before Ecuador's currency was eventually replaced by the US dollar.
Latin American
New Zealand Lord of the Rings Coins (2003)
New Zealand issued legal-tender coins featuring characters and scenes from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy, celebrating the films' production in the country with both a circulating dollar and premium collector coins.
Commemorative
Dutch Ducat
A small, nearly pure gold coin showing an armored knight, minted for centuries by the Dutch provinces and later the Kingdom of the Netherlands as a trusted international trade coin.
European
Double Sovereign
A British gold coin worth two pounds, twice the value of the standard sovereign, struck intermittently since the nineteenth century for commemorative and bullion purposes.
British
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
Crown of the Double Rose
A gold coin introduced by Henry VIII in 1526 as part of his coinage reform, named for the crowned Tudor double rose on its reverse.
British
Classic Head Quarter Eagle
Struck from 1834 to 1839 after Congress reduced the gold weight of U.S. coins, this quarter eagle dropped the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM and features a simplified Liberty head.
United States
Aureus of Nero
The gold coin of Emperor Nero, whose AD 64 monetary reform reduced the aureus's weight standard alongside similar changes to the silver denarius.
Ancient
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
Aureus of Augustus
The gold coin of Rome's first emperor, Augustus, who standardized the aureus at roughly 1/40 of a Roman pound and set the gold standard for the empire.
Ancient
Quarter Guinea
A rarely issued small gold coin worth one-quarter of a guinea, struck only in 1718 under George I and again briefly in 1762 under George III.
British
Third Guinea
A small gold coin worth one-third of a guinea, or seven shillings, struck under George III in the years leading up to the introduction of the modern sovereign.
British
Florentine Florin
Introduced in 1252, the gold florin of Florence became medieval Europe's leading trade coin, its lily emblem and fixed gold standard copied by dozens of other mints.
European
Brasher Doubloon
A famous privately struck gold coin made in 1787 by New York goldsmith Ephraim Brasher, a neighbor of George Washington, and one of the most valuable and celebrated coins in American numismatics.
United States
Byzantine Solidus
The gold standard coin of the Byzantine Empire for over 700 years, the solidus funded an empire, financed trade across three continents, and remained one of history's most stable currencies.
Ancient
Mexican Libertad
Mexico's flagship bullion coin, featuring the Angel of Independence on the obverse and the national coat of arms on the reverse, prized for its classic design and high purity.
Bullion
Theodosius I Solidus
A gold solidus of Theodosius I, the last emperor to rule a united Roman Empire and the ruler who made Nicene Christianity the state religion.
Ancient