Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Fugio Cent
1787 copper cent, among the first coins issued under the United States, with a sundial and sun on the obverse and thirteen linked rings on the reverse.
Colonial
Triple Unite
The largest English hammered gold coin, struck for Charles I during the Civil War and valued at 60 shillings (three pounds).
Hammered
Styca of Eanred
Small base-metal coin of King Eanred of Northumbria, with a cross and legend on one face and a central symbolic motif on the other.
Medieval Coins
Tanzania 10 Shillings
A base-metal Tanzanian coin bearing President Julius Nyerere on the obverse and the national coat of arms with the value 10 on the reverse.
World
Ghana 1 Cedi
A golden-brass Ghanaian coin dated 1979, showing a cocoa pod with FREEDOM AND JUSTICE on one face and the national coat of arms on the other.
World
East African 5 Cents
A holed copper-nickel colonial coin with a crown above scrollwork and EAST AFRICA lettering, issued by the East African Currency Board.
World
100 CFA Francs
A widely circulated West African coin bearing a crossed-sword emblem and a floral design, denominated 100 francs of the West African CFA franc.
World
Spanish Colonial 4 Reales
A large silver colonial coin worth half a Spanish dollar, struck for Spain's American empire and bearing the crowned Spanish royal arms.
Colonial
Barber Dime
U.S. ten-cent silver coin struck 1892–1916, showing a right-facing Liberty head and a wreath enclosing "ONE DIME" on the reverse.
Dime
Nova Scotia One Cent
Bronze one-cent coin of the colony of Nova Scotia, with a crowned Queen Victoria obverse and a crown-and-maple-leaves reverse.
Canadian & Provincial
South Africa Farthing
The smallest bronze coin of the Union of South Africa, a quarter-penny with a crowned royal portrait and a South African bird reverse.
World
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
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
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
Matapan (Serbian imitation)
A medieval Serbian coin modeled on the Venetian matapan (grosso), showing standing figures on the obverse and a cross on the reverse.
Medieval
Kenya 5 Shillings
A modern bimetallic Kenyan coin pairing a President's portrait with the national coat of arms and the bold value 5 shillings.
World
French 30 Sols
A silver coin of the early French Revolution showing Louis XVI as constitutional king on one side and a standing Liberty on the other.
Revolutionary
Erstein Notgeld 10 Pfennigs
A 1917 German emergency coin (Notgeld) for 10 Pfennigs from the town of Erstein, with the city coat of arms on one side and a large 10 on the other.
Token/notgeld
Barbados 1 Cent
A modern copper-colored Barbados one cent: the national coat of arms on the obverse and the value on the reverse, the smallest coin of the Barbadian dollar.
Circulation
Edward IV Ryal
English medieval gold coin of Edward IV showing the king armored in a ship with a shield, and a radiant rose-on-sun design on the reverse.
Medieval Coins
10 CFA Francs
A small modern circulation coin of the West African CFA franc zone, showing a stylized traditional emblem and the bold value 10.
World
Patacao
A Portuguese silver coin known as the patacao, a larger member of the pataca family, carrying the royal coat of arms and a crowned heraldic shield.
Circulation
100 Yen (Showa Silver)
Japan's first 100 Yen coin, in silver: a phoenix in flight on the obverse and a bold radiating 100 on the reverse. Dated Showa 33 (1958).
Circulation
Spanish Doubloon (8 Escudos)
Large Spanish gold coin worth eight escudos, showing the right-facing bust of King Charles IV and a crowned Spanish shield with a cross.
World Coins