Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Gold Half Sovereign
Smaller companion to the gold sovereign, struck since 1817 at half the weight and value, sharing the same monarch portraits and often the same St George reverse design.
British
Long Island Tercentenary Half Dollar
A 1936 U.S. commemorative half dollar marking 300 years since the first European settlement on Long Island, New York.
Commemorative
Fugio Cent
The first coin authorized by the United States government, featuring a sundial, the word 'Fugio,' and the motto 'Mind Your Business,' often linked to Benjamin Franklin.
United States
Liberty Cap Half Cent
The first design used on the U.S. half cent, struck from 1793 to 1797, showing Liberty wearing a soft cap on the obverse and a wreath on the reverse.
United States
Isabella Quarter
The only U.S. commemorative quarter dollar, struck for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and featuring Queen Isabella I of Spain, sponsor of Columbus's voyage.
Commemorative
Lewis and Clark Gold Dollar Commemorative
A commemorative gold dollar honoring explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, struck in 1904 and 1905 for the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, Oregon.
Commemorative
Continental Dollar
A large 1776-dated piece bearing a sundial, 'MIND YOUR BUSINESS,' and a thirteen-link chain, long debated as either an intended Continental Congress dollar or a contemporary satirical piece.
United States
Chinese Ming Dynasty Cash (Hong Wu Tong Bao)
The founding cash coin of the Ming Dynasty, issued under the Hongwu Emperor, marking the restoration of native Han Chinese rule after the collapse of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.
Asian
George V Fifty Cents
Canada's fifty-cent silver coin issued under King George V, spanning a reduction in silver fineness in 1920 and including the famously rare 1921 date.
Canadian
Panama-Pacific Gold Dollar Commemorative
A 1915 gold dollar honoring the workers who built the Panama Canal, featuring a canal laborer's head on the obverse and two dolphins encircling the denomination on the reverse.
Commemorative
Capped Bust Quarter Eagle
An umbrella term for the earliest U.S. $2.50 gold coins (1796-1834), whose Liberty-in-a-cap portrait evolved through several sub-types, including the famous single-year 1808 issue.
United States
Mamluk Gold Dinar
A gold dinar of the Mamluk Sultanate, which ruled Egypt and Syria for over two and a half centuries, continuing the Islamic epigraphic gold coinage tradition until the Ottoman conquest.
World
Type II Silver Three-Cent Piece
A short-lived redesign of the silver three-cent piece with heavier silver content and an outlined star, known for weak strikes and generally low mintages.
United States
Colombia 8 Reales
Silver 8 reales struck first under Spanish colonial rule in New Granada and later, after independence, in the name of the new Colombian republic.
Latin American
Egyptian Pound (gold)
Egypt's principal gold coin, struck from the Khedivate through the Sultanate and early Kingdom era, carrying the ruler's portrait or tughra and Arabic legends.
Africa & Oceania
Panama-Pacific $50 Gold (Round)
A massive round commemorative gold piece struck for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, one of the rarest and most valuable U.S. commemorative coins ever issued.
Commemorative
Victoria Fifty Cents (half dollar)
Canada's silver fifty-cent piece struck under Queen Victoria from 1870 to 1901, featuring her portrait and a heraldic shield-and-wreath reverse.
Canadian
Ceylon (Sri Lanka) EIC Rixdollar
A colonial currency unit continued by the British East India Company administration in Ceylon, inherited from earlier Dutch VOC rule and featuring an elephant design.
Asian
Maximian Follis
Large bronze follis of Maximian, co-Augustus with Diocletian who ruled the western half of the empire as part of the Tetrarchy and shared the same reformed coinage design.
Ancient
Swiss Franc (Helvetia Seated)
Switzerland's classic 19th-century silver coinage depicting a seated figure of Helvetia, the female personification of the Swiss nation.
European
Una and the Lion Five Pound
A legendary 1839 gold proof depicting young Queen Victoria as Una leading a lion, widely considered one of the most beautiful coins ever struck and a benchmark of Victorian coin art.
British
Guatemala 8 Reales
A silver piece of eight struck at the Guatemala City mint, first under Spanish colonial rule and later continued through the Central American Federation and independent Guatemala.
Latin American
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
Licinius Follis
Bronze follis of Licinius, the last rival emperor to challenge Constantine the Great before his defeat and the reunification of the Roman Empire under Constantinian rule in 324 AD.
Ancient