Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Victorian Silver Five Cents
The small sterling silver five-cent coin struck under Queen Victoria for the Province of Canada and later the Dominion of Canada, issued intermittently from 1858 to 1901.
Canadian
Touchstone Sovereign (Fine Sovereign)
A large, high-value English gold coin struck in especially pure 'fine gold,' valued at thirty shillings and distinguished from the more common crown-gold Sovereign of the same era.
British
Classic Head Half Eagle ($5)
A short-lived early American gold five-dollar coin created after the Coinage Act of 1834 reduced gold coin weight to keep coins in circulation rather than being melted.
United States
1921 Mercury Dime
A key date of the Mercury dime series, struck in unusually low numbers amid a post-World War I economic slowdown that reduced coinage demand nationwide.
United States
Austrian Gold Philharmonic
Austria's popular gold bullion coin honoring the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring the Musikverein's Great Organ and an array of orchestral instruments.
Bullion
Australian Holey Dollar and Dump
In 1813, colonial authorities in New South Wales punched the centers out of Spanish silver dollars to create two coins from one, easing a severe coin shortage while preventing the silver from leaving the colony.
Africa & Oceania
US Olympic Commemorative Dollar (1983)
The first coin in a two-year US commemorative program supporting the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the 1983 silver dollar features a discus-thrower design and marked a revival of American commemorative coinage.
Commemorative
Chilean 100 Pesos Gold 'Condor'
Chile's flagship 20th-century gold coin, popularly called the "Condor" for the majestic Andean bird featured on its reverse, historically prized as an internationally recognized gold piece.
Latin American
Ecuador Sucre Silver
Ecuador's historic silver one-sucre coin, named after independence hero Antonio Jose de Sucre, circulated for decades before Ecuador's currency was eventually replaced by the US dollar.
Latin American
Byzantine Gold Tremissis
A small gold fractional coin worth one-third of a solidus, widely struck across the early Byzantine world and imitated by Germanic successor kingdoms in the former Western Roman Empire.
Ancient
Chinese Wu Zhu Cash
One of history's longest-running coin types, cast continuously for over seven centuries across multiple Chinese dynasties after its introduction under Emperor Wu of Han.
Ancient
Maundy Fourpence
The largest of the four Royal Maundy coins, a small silver fourpence descended in value from the medieval groat, struck annually for the monarch's ceremonial Maundy Thursday alms distribution.
British
Kennedy Half Dollar
A half dollar issued starting in 1964 to honor assassinated President John F. Kennedy, quickly becoming a widely saved and collected commemorative-style circulating coin.
United States
Joachimsthaler
Struck beginning in 1520 in the Bohemian silver-mining town of Joachimsthal, this large silver coin gave its name, shortened to 'thaler' and later 'dollar,' to countless currencies around the world.
European
South African Republic Burgers Pond
The first coin struck for an independent South African state, issued in 1874 under President Thomas Burgers of the Transvaal, famous for its 'coarse beard' and 'fine beard' portrait varieties.
Africa & Oceania
New Zealand Waitangi Crown (1935)
Rare 1935 New Zealand silver crown depicting the meeting between Governor Hobson and Maori chiefs, one of the most valuable coins in British Commonwealth crown collecting.
Africa & Oceania
Sacagawea Golden Dollar
A golden-colored dollar coin introduced in 2000 depicting Sacagawea carrying her infant son, created to replace the unpopular Susan B. Anthony dollar in everyday commerce.
United States
Tibetan Silver Tangka
The traditional silver coin denomination of Tibet, issued in many distinct types over roughly three centuries, from early Nepalese-struck coinage to native Tibetan and Sino-Tibetan issues.
Asian
Tibetan Silver Srang (Ganden Tangka type)
A native Tibetan silver coin issued by the Ganden Phodrang government in Lhasa, featuring the Tibetan snow lion and traditional Tibetan script rather than Chinese imperial designs.
Asian
Visigothic Gold Tremissis
Small gold coin of the Visigothic kings of Spain, evolving from crude imitations of Roman/Byzantine coinage into the first distinctly national royal coinage of post-Roman Western Europe.
European
Italian 100 Lire Gold
The largest gold denomination of the Kingdom of Italy's Latin Monetary Union coinage, struck under Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I in relatively limited numbers.
European
Dutch Ducat
A small, nearly pure gold coin showing an armored knight, minted for centuries by the Dutch provinces and later the Kingdom of the Netherlands as a trusted international trade coin.
European
Chinese Szechuan Rupee (Tibet-related)
Silver rupee struck by China's Szechuan provincial mint to compete with British Indian rupees circulating in Tibet, blending a Chinese ruler's portrait with an Indian-style coin format.
Asian
Victoria Ten Cents (dime)
Canada's early silver ten-cent coin issued under Queen Victoria, struck intermittently from the introduction of decimal currency in 1858 through the end of her reign in 1901.
Canadian