Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Follis of Diocletian
A large silver-washed bronze coin of the Tetrarchy, introduced by Diocletian's currency reform around AD 294 with a stern laureate portrait.
Ancient
Spanish Colonial Cob 8 Reales
A hand-struck silver cob 8 reales of Spain's American colonies—the irregular, hammered “piece of eight” bearing the crowned Habsburg arms and Pillars of Hercules.
Cob Coinage
Medieval Halfgroat of Henry VII
Hammered silver twopence of England's first Tudor king, with a crowned royal portrait and a long-cross reverse over a shield.
British Isles
British Double Florin
Large Victorian silver four-shilling piece with the Jubilee Head of Queen Victoria and a cross of four crowned shields on the reverse.
World Coins
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
Grosz Miejski
A silver city grosz struck at Elbląg in 1533, pairing the town's crowned coat of arms with an eagle and civic inscriptions under the Polish crown.
Early Modern
Spanish Colonial Cob 2 Reales
A crude hand-struck silver cob worth a quarter of a piece of eight, showing a cross on one side and the Habsburg Spanish arms on the other.
Cob Coinage
Nasidius Denarius
Roman Republican silver denarius struck for Sextus Pompey's admiral Q. Nasidius, showing Pompey the Great's head and a galley marked NASIDIVS.
Ancient
Rijksdaalder van Leicester
A large silver Dutch rijksdaalder of the Leicester type, with a helmeted armored bust and ruff on the obverse and a compartmented heraldic shield on the reverse.
Early Modern
Xuantong Yuanbao 20 Cents
A small late-Qing silver 20-cent coin with a Western-style dragon, the English legend FIRST YEAR OF HSUAN TUNG, and Chinese characters reading Xuantong Yuanbao.
Circulation
Capped Head Half Eagle
A U.S. five-dollar gold coin struck 1813–1834, showing a left-facing capped Liberty with stars and a heraldic eagle bearing a shield and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
United States
Counterstamped 2 Reales
A Spanish silver 2 reales dated 1803 that was later punched with a WR-and-crown counterstamp, giving it a second, borrowed life as legal tender.
Colonial
Australian Florin
Australia's pre-decimal silver two-shilling coin, showing the Commonwealth coat of arms with kangaroo and emu supporters and the reigning monarch.
World Coins
Denarius of C. Cato
Silver Roman Republican denarius struck at Rome in 123 BC by the moneyer C. Cato, with a helmeted head of Roma and Victory driving a chariot.
Ancient
Calpurnia Denarius
Silver Roman Republican denarius of the Calpurnia gens: a right-facing male head on the obverse and a galloping horseman with inscription on the reverse.
Ancient
Yunnan 20 Cents
A 1932 provincial silver 20 Cents from Yunnan, China, with a radiant sun and rays on one face and central Chinese value characters framed by ornament on the other.
Circulation
Central American Republic 8 Reales
A silver 8 reales of the Central American Republic, showing a rayed sun rising over mountains on one side and a tree on the other, dated 1824.
Circulation
Bourgondische Rijksdaalder
A large silver rijksdaalder of the Habsburg Netherlands showing Philip II in helmeted armor, with a compartmented heraldic shield and the Golden Fleece collar.
Early Modern
Imitation Abbasid Dirham
A thin, broad silver coin that copies an Abbasid dirham but was struck in northern Europe, with blundered pseudo-Kufic script and a piercing for wear.
Islamic (Medieval)
Guangdong 20 Cents
A silver 20-cent coin of Kwangtung (Guangdong) province, struck under the Guangxu Emperor with a coiled dragon on one side and Chinese legends on the other.
Circulation
Schaummünze 4 Thaler
A silver Schaummünze struck to a 4-Thaler weight, dated 1666, with elaborate heraldic and figural imagery referencing August der Jüngere.
Medal
Double Rupi
A large Afsharid silver coin of Nader Shah, the double rupi, dated AH 1151 and covered in flowing Persian calligraphy and ornamental scrollwork.
Historic
Aigina Turtle Stater
Thick silver stater of the island of Aigina, c. 480-456 BC, with a sea turtle on the obverse and a divided incuse punch on the reverse.
Ancient
British Shilling
Small Victorian silver shilling showing Queen Victoria's crowned, veiled Jubilee portrait and a crowned heraldic shield reverse.
World Coins