Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Travancore One Cash
A tiny copper coin of the princely state of Travancore, carrying the state's conch-shell emblem on one side and its cash value in local script on the other.
Princely & Presidency StatesLaurel
A hammered English gold coin of James I worth twenty shillings, named for the king's laurel-wreathed profile, struck 1619-1625.
HammeredGallic Imitation Stater
A gold stater struck by the tribes of Gaul, whose stylized head and single horse descend from Greek Macedonian prototypes reworked into abstract Celtic art.
AncientPhilip III Gold Stater
A Macedonian gold stater struck under Philip III Arrhidaeus, half-brother of Alexander the Great, showing Heracles and an enthroned Zeus.
AncientHessen-Homburg Kreuzer
A small silver 1 Kreuzer of the Landgraviate of Hessen-Homburg, with a crowned arms shield and a dated 1 KREUZER value in a laurel wreath.
German StatesLysimachos Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm of Lysimachos of Thrace, c. 297-282 BC, showing the deified head of Alexander the Great and Athena seated with a shield and spear.
AncientAntiochos IV Epiphanes Tetradrachm
Large silver tetradrachm of the Seleucid king Antiochos IV Epiphanes, 175-164 BC, with his diademed head and an enthroned deity reverse.
AncientScudo (Philip V)
A gold scudo struck for Spanish-ruled Sardinia under Philip V, bearing a crowned shield flanked by the Columns of Hercules and a cross reverse.
Early ModernPapua New Guinea 5 Kina
Papua New Guinea's 1975 five-kina coin: Queen Elizabeth II in profile on the obverse, a bird-of-paradise with the K5 denomination on the reverse.
CirculationGibraltar Crown
A 1982 Gibraltar cupro-nickel crown marking the christening of Prince William, showing the Queen Mother and Princess Diana with the infant prince.
CommemorativeHenry VII Sovereign
The first English gold sovereign, struck under Henry VII, showing the crowned king enthroned in majesty on an elaborate Gothic throne.
Medieval CoinsMinnesota State Quarter
2005 U.S. 25-cent coin in the 50 State Quarters series, showing Minnesota's outline, a common loon, anglers in a boat, and pines above 1858.
QuarterAigina 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.
AncientTanzania 500 Shillings
A modern base-metal circulating coin of Tanzania carrying a right-facing portrait long associated with the nation's founding president and a Kiswahili legend.
WorldSpanish 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 CoinsLysimachos Gold Stater
Gold stater of Lysimachos, king in Thrace and Macedon c. 305-281 BC, with a deified head of Alexander the Great and an enthroned Athena reverse.
AncientAnglo-Saxon Styca
A tiny base-metal coin of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, struck in the 8th-9th century with a head and inscription on one side and a cross on the other.
Medieval CoinsPhilip II Tetradrachm
A large silver coin of the Macedonian kingdom showing the laureate head of Zeus and a youthful horseman, struck under and after Philip II.
AncientTrinidad and Tobago 5 Cents
A bronze five-cent coin of Trinidad and Tobago showing a perched bird — the Greater Bird of Paradise, often mistaken for a parrot — with FIVE CENTS on the reverse.
CirculationBroad
A gold twenty-shilling coin of the Protectorate bearing Oliver Cromwell's Roman-style profile and a crowned quartered shield, dated 1656.
HammeredLewis and Clark Bicentennial Dollar
A golden manganese-brass dollar marking the 2004 bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, pairing the two explorers with Peace and Friendship imagery.
CommemorativeBahawalpur Gold Coin
A gold coin or medallic piece linked to the princely state of Bahawalpur, its obverse bearing a uniformed royal portrait and its reverse an ornate coat of arms.
South AsiaDisarmament Commemorative Ruble
A 1988 Soviet copper-nickel commemorative ruble marking the US-Soviet treaty that scrapped intermediate- and shorter-range nuclear missiles.
World CoinsNew Zealand Waitangi Crown
New Zealand's first and rarest crown, a 1935 silver five-shilling piece with a crowned George V obverse and the Treaty of Waitangi handshake reverse.
New Zealand