Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Barbados 25 Cents
A copper-nickel Caribbean circulation coin of Barbados; the 1998 example shows the national coat of arms on the obverse and the 25-cent value on the reverse.
Circulation
Indian Head Quarter Eagle
U.S. $2.50 gold coin of 1908–1929 with a sunken (incuse) design: an Indian in a feathered war bonnet on the obverse and a standing eagle reverse.
Quarter Eagle
American Gold Eagle
The United States' official gold bullion coin since 1986, struck in 22-karat gold in four sizes with a Saint-Gaudens striding Liberty obverse.
Bullion
Three-Dollar Gold Piece
An unusual U.S. gold coin of the $3 denomination struck 1854–1889, showing a Liberty head in a feathered Indian-style headdress. The photo shows the 1854 first year.
Gold Type Coin
German 5 Reichsmark (Hindenburg)
German silver 5 Reichsmark of the Third Reich, pairing a portrait of Paul von Hindenburg with an eagle-and-swastika reverse; dated 1936.
Circulation
Double Louis d'Or
A large gold coin of Louis XIV dated 1701: the king's laureate profile and 'LUDOVICUS MAGNUS' obverse, an ornate cross of arms reverse.
Royal
Philip and Mary Shilling
Hammered silver shilling of Philip II of Spain and Mary I (1554-1558), showing their paired royal busts and a crowned quartered shield of arms.
Hammered
Dutch East Indies Duit
Small copper duit of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), showing the interlaced VOC monogram and a crowned provincial coat of arms, dated 1735.
Southeast Asia
Artuqid Bronze Dirham
A 12th-century bronze coin of the Artuqid Turkmen dynasty, struck with Arabic inscriptions inside ornamental borders across eastern Anatolia.
Medieval Islamic
Hanover 2/3 Thaler
A large German States silver 2/3 Thaler of Brunswick-Luneburg (Hanover) dated 1694, with an ornate coat of arms and the leaping Saxon horse reverse.
German States
Gothic Florin
A silver two-shilling florin of Queen Victoria in the medieval-revival Gothic style, with an ornate crowned cruciform shield reverse dated 1869.
Milled
Tibetan Tangka
A silver tangka, the standard coin of old Tibet, its faces filled with Tibetan script and Buddhist ornamental motifs, struck from the late 18th into the 19th century.
Himalayan
Abbasid Silver Dirham
A thin, broad Islamic silver coin of the Abbasid Caliphate, covered edge to edge with concentric Kufic Arabic inscriptions and dated AH 132 (AD 749–750).
Islamic
Numapis Denarius
A silver denarius of the Roman Republic (1st century BC) pairing a male portrait facing right with a ship or galley and lettering on the reverse.
Ancient
5 Francs (First Republic)
A large silver 5-franc crown of the French First Republic, dated by the revolutionary calendar as L'an 9 (1800–1801), with a right-facing Liberty head.
Circulation
Trinidad and Tobago 50 Cents
A large copper-nickel Caribbean circulation coin; the 1967 example carries the national coat of arms and country name on the obverse and the 50-cent value on the reverse.
Circulation
New Zealand Threepence
New Zealand's small silver threepence; this 1933 example carries the crowned bust of King George V with GEORGIVS V and his royal titles.
New Zealand
Gold Sovereign
The British gold sovereign: a one-pound gold coin. This 1817 George III example shows a laureate bust and a crowned heraldic shield of the royal arms.
World
British Brass Threepence
Chunky twelve-sided nickel-brass threepence of George VI, showing his head and a thrift plant reverse; the example shown is dated 1942.
British Isles
Lincoln Wheat Cent
U.S. one-cent coin struck 1909–1958 with Lincoln's profile and a pair of wheat ears framing ONE CENT; the 1909-S here is a scarce first-year San Francisco issue.
Small Cent
5 Roubles (Alexander III)
An Imperial Russian gold 5 Roubles of Alexander III, showing the tsar's bearded profile and the crowned double-headed eagle, struck in the late 1880s.
Modern
Napoleon III 20 Francs
French gold 20 francs of Emperor Napoleon III, showing his bare head facing right and a wreathed value on the reverse; example dated 1857.
World Coins
British Silver Threepence
Tiny sterling-silver threepence of Queen Victoria; the young-head type shown here dates to 1858 and is one of Britain's smallest circulating coins.
British Isles
British Decimal Half Penny
The smallest UK decimal coin, a tiny bronze half-penny introduced with decimalisation in 1971, bearing a crown reverse and the Machin portrait of Elizabeth II.
British Isles