Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
1880 Shield Nickel
A major key date of the Shield Nickel series with an extremely low business-strike mintage, making genuine circulated examples much scarcer than the coin's proofs.
United States
Spanish Colonial 8 Reales Ferdinand VII
A large silver 8 reales coin struck across Spain's American colonies bearing the portrait of King Ferdinand VII, widely circulated internationally and historically linked to the origin of the US dollar sign.
World
Japanese Bunkyu Eiho (cash coin)
A late Edo-period Japanese cash coin worth 4 mon, larger than the common Kan'ei Tsūhō, issued in the final years of the Tokugawa Shogunate to help ease chronic small-coin shortages.
Asian
Netherlands Lion Daalder (Leeuwendaalder)
A large silver trade coin of the Dutch provinces showing a knight and a rampant lion, widely circulated in colonial North America and the Ottoman world as the prototype 'lion dollar.'
European
1917 Type 2 Standing Liberty Quarter
The revised Standing Liberty quarter design introduced later in 1917, adding chain mail over Liberty's chest and extra stars on the reverse, used through the end of the series in 1930.
United States
1933 Double Eagle
One of the rarest and most legally contested U.S. coins, struck but never officially released for circulation after the nation left the gold standard; a single example sold for over $18 million.
United States
1999 Susan B. Anthony Dollar
A one-year revival of the Susan B. Anthony dollar, struck in 1999 to meet demand for dollar coins in vending and transit use before the Sacagawea dollar's launch the following year.
United States
1979 Susan B. Anthony Dollar
The first year of the Susan B. Anthony dollar, the first U.S. circulating coin to depict a real, named woman, notable for the scarce 1979-P wide-rim (Near Date) variety.
United States
Costa Rica 2 Colones Gold
A small gold denomination from Costa Rica's early colon-era coinage, part of a family of gold coins (2, 5, 10, and 20 colones) struck around the turn of the twentieth century.
Latin American
Vijayanagara Gold Pagoda
A small, thick gold coin of the South Indian Vijayanagara Empire, typically showing Hindu deities or a bull, whose type became so trusted it was widely imitated as the standard South Indian trade "pagoda."
Asian
Persian Sassanid Silver Drachm
The standard silver coin of the Sasanian Persian Empire, showing an elaborately crowned royal bust and a Zoroastrian fire altar with attendants, struck for over four centuries.
Ancient
US State Quarters Series
A landmark US Mint program issuing a new quarter reverse design for each of the 50 states in the order they joined the Union, sparking widespread collecting interest nationwide.
United States
Kwangtung Province Dragon Dollar
One of the earliest Chinese machine-struck silver dollars, issued by Kwangtung Province and featuring a coiled dragon reverse that became the template for Chinese provincial dollar coinage.
Asian
1799/8 Draped Bust Silver Dollar Overdate
A prized die variety of the Draped Bust silver dollar where an 1799 obverse die was punched over a leftover 1798 date, leaving overlapping digits visible under magnification.
Errors & Varieties
Finnish Markka
Finland's national currency from the era of Russian imperial rule until the adoption of the euro, issued in a range of coin denominations reflecting the country's changing political history.
European
Ephesus Bee Tetradrachm
A silver coin from the Ionian city of Ephesus featuring a bee, sacred symbol of the great Temple of Artemis, paired with a stag on the reverse.
Ancient
Roman Republic Denarius
The workhorse silver coin of the Roman Republic, introduced during the Second Punic War and struck by a long line of moneyers with ever-changing, often political, designs.
Ancient
1938-D Walking Liberty Half Dollar
A low-mintage Denver issue widely regarded as the key date of the later Walking Liberty half dollar run, second in scarcity only to the 1921 dates.
United States
1913-S Barber Quarter
A famous low-mintage key date near the end of the Barber quarter series, prized by collectors despite its worn survivors due to its very small original production.
United States
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
Indian Gold Mohur
The traditional high-value gold coin of the Indian subcontinent, struck for centuries by Mughal emperors, later by the British East India Company, British India, and various princely states.
Asian
1955 Doubled Die Lincoln Cent
A famous doubled die error showing strong, plainly visible doubling on the date and lettering of the obverse, among the most recognizable die varieties in U.S. coinage.
Errors & Varieties
Chola Dynasty Gold Kahavanu
A gold coin of the powerful medieval South Indian Chola dynasty, typically bearing the dynastic tiger, fish, and bow emblem alongside a standing or seated royal figure.
Asian
Merovingian Gold Tremissis
A small gold coin of the Merovingian Frankish kingdom, worth one-third of a solidus, often naming the local moneyer who struck it rather than the reigning king.
European