Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Austrian Gold Ducat
A high-purity Austrian gold ducat of the Habsburg monarchy, showing a crowned ruler in military dress on the obverse and the double-headed imperial eagle on the reverse.
Bullion/gold
Draped Bust Half Dollar
Early U.S. silver fifty-cent piece of 1796–1807. The pictured 1796 Small Eagle with 15 stars is among the rarest of all American coins.
Half Dollar
Holey Dollar
Australia's first struck coin: a Spanish silver dollar with its centre punched out, counterstamped NEW SOUTH WALES 1813 and revalued at five shillings.
Australian
Sierra Leone 20 Cents
A 1964 Sierra Leone 20 cents from the country's first decimal coinage, showing a portrait profile on one side and the national coat of arms with its lion on the other.
World
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
Canadian Five Cents (Nickel)
Canada's five-cent 'nickel,' with G.E. Kruger Gray's beaver reverse. This 1987 example pairs the beaver with an Elizabeth II portrait.
Canadian & Provincial
2 Litai
A white base-metal 2 litai of newly independent Lithuania, dated 1991, showing the value in a radiating sunburst on one side and the Vytis mounted knight on the other.
Modern
New Zealand Halfpenny
New Zealand's small bronze halfpenny, struck from 1940, with a royal portrait obverse and a Maori hei-tiki reverse. The coin shown is a 1940 George VI issue.
New Zealand
Ultra High Relief Double Eagle
Augustus Saint-Gaudens' 1907 $20 gold pattern struck in sculptural ultra high relief, with striding Liberty and a soaring eagle.
Gold Type Coin
Aureus of Augustus
Roman imperial gold coin bearing the bare head of Augustus, first emperor of Rome, struck during his reign from 27 BC to 14 AD.
Ancient Coins
Krugerrand
South Africa's 1 oz gold bullion coin, with Paul Kruger's portrait on the obverse and a leaping springbok on the reverse; this piece is dated 1975.
Bullion
Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Half Dollar
A 1924 U.S. silver commemorative half dollar marking 300 years of Huguenot and Walloon settlement in America, with two settler profiles and a sailing ship.
Classic Commemorative
Real (Medieval)
A medieval Spanish silver real carrying the heraldic arms of the Iberian kingdoms — a lion for León paired with a castle or cross design.
Medieval
Henry VII Sovereign
The first English gold sovereign, struck under Henry VII, showing the crowned king enthroned in majesty on an elaborate Gothic throne.
Medieval Coins
Anglo-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 Coins
British East Africa Half Shilling
A small low-fineness silver coin of British East Africa bearing King George VI; the half shilling equalled fifty cents in the East African system.
World
Alabama Centennial Half Dollar
A 1921 U.S. silver half dollar marking a century of Alabama statehood, with jugate governor busts and a state eagle; issued in plain and scarcer 2×2 varieties.
Classic Commemorative
Qajar 5 Tomans Commemorative
A late Qajar gold 5 Tomans of Persia showing Ahmad Shah Qajar in a laurel wreath and the national Lion emblem, dated 1299.
Persia / Iran
Turban Head Quarter Eagle
First U.S. $2.50 gold coin (1796), designed by Robert Scot; Liberty in a soft cap facing right with a heraldic eagle reverse. Extremely rare.
United States
Native American Dollar
U.S. golden dollar with the Sacagawea obverse and a yearly-changing reverse; the 2009 issue shows Native American agriculture and three corn stalks.
Dollar
Gouden Dukaat
A Dutch gold trade ducat of the United Provinces, showing an armored standing knight and an inscribed heraldic tablet; this example is dated 1724.
Early Modern
Capped Bust Eagle
The first United States gold ten-dollar coin, struck 1795–1804 with a capped Liberty bust and, in later years, a heraldic eagle bearing a shield and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
United States
5 Litai
A nickel-alloy 5 litai of newly independent Lithuania dated 1991, showing the value with radiating lines on one side and the armored knight Vytis on horseback on the other.
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