Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
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
Islamic Gold Dinar (LACMA M.2006.143.8)
A medieval Islamic gold dinar in the LACMA collection, struck with purely calligraphic Arabic legends and a decorative border — the classic imageless coin of the caliphates.
Islamic (Medieval)
Spanish Colonial Half Real
The smallest milled silver coin of Spain's American empire: a tiny 1/2 real with a royal bust and the crowned arms between pillars.
Colonial
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
Solidus of Constantine I the Great
Constantine the Great's gold solidus, a high-purity coin struck from about AD 309 that became the standard of late Roman and Byzantine gold.
Ancient
Antoninianus of Valerian II
Roman radiate coin of Valerian II, the young Caesar (c. 253-260 AD), showing his spiked crown and a standing figure on the reverse.
Ancient
Tymf
A debased Polish silver coin of 1663 tariffed at 30 groszy, famous for a Latin motto declaring the state's safety worth more than the metal.
Early Modern
20 Lei
Romania's first gold coin, the 1870 20 Lei of Prince Carol I, pairing his left-facing portrait with the national coat of arms.
Modern
Quarter Farthing
Tiny copper coin of Queen Victoria worth one-sixteenth of a penny, struck for use in Ceylon; the smallest-value British denomination ever made.
British Isles
Victoria Maundy Twopence
A tiny sterling-silver ceremonial coin from a Royal Maundy set. This 1845 example shows Victoria's young head and a crowned 2 in a wreath.
British Isles
Bhutan 10 Sengtrum
A 1979 cupro-nickel minor coin of the Kingdom of Bhutan, worth one-tenth of a ngultrum, with the national arms on one face and an ornamental gateway on the other.
Himalayan
Indian Head Gold Dollar
Tiny U.S. one-dollar gold coin (1854–1889) with an Indian-princess Liberty in a feathered headdress and a denomination-and-date wreath reverse.
Gold Dollar
Half Guinea of George II
A small British gold coin of the reign of George II, worth half a guinea, with the king's left-facing bust and a crowned heraldic shield reverse.
Milled
Styca of Aethelred
Small base-metal coin of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, naming King Aethelred, with a central device and legend on one face and a cross on the other.
Medieval Coins
Somalia Silver Leopard
One-ounce fine-silver bullion coin from Somalia's African Wildlife series, showing a prowling leopard on the obverse; this example is dated 2022.
Bullion
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
George IV One Sixteenth Spanish Dollar
A small George IV silver coin of the "Anchor Money" series, worth one-sixteenth of a Spanish dollar and marked with an anchor and Roman numeral XVI.
Colonial
Ban Liang
A round bronze cash coin with a square central hole and two seal-script characters reading Ban Liang, from early imperial China.
Ancient
Aksu Mint 10 Cash
A struck copper 10 cash coin from the Aksu mint in Xinjiang, with Chinese characters and a denomination mark in a circular layout, without a central hole.
Cash Coin
4 Maravedis
A copper Spanish coin struck in the names of Carlos and Joanna, worth four maravedis (one cuarto), carrying the crowned royal arms and Pillars of Hercules.
Circulation
Julius Caesar Denarius
Silver Roman denarius of 44 BC bearing the bareheaded portrait of Julius Caesar, among the first Roman coins to show a living statesman's likeness.
Ancient
1 Grosz
A small 1949 Polish one-grosz coin bearing the crownless national eagle and RZECZPOSPOLITA POLSKA, with the value 1 GROSZ framed by grain on the reverse.
Modern
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
Escudo (Joanna and Charles V, contemporary copy)
A contemporary gilded copper-alloy copy imitating a Spanish gold escudo of Joanna and Charles V, made to pass as the real Habsburg gold coin.
Early Modern