Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
French 30 Sols
A silver coin of the early French Revolution showing Louis XVI as constitutional king on one side and a standing Liberty on the other.
Revolutionary
South Africa Farthing
The smallest bronze coin of the Union of South Africa, a quarter-penny with a crowned royal portrait and a South African bird reverse.
World
Quarter Merk
A small hammered silver coin of Scotland worth a quarter of a merk, showing a crowned heraldic shield with a cross and a Latin legend.
Hammered
Antoninianus of Aurelian
Late Roman billon coin of Emperor Aurelian, showing his radiate-crowned bust and a standing deity or personification on the reverse.
Ancient Coins
Congo 5 Francs
A modern circulation coin of the Democratic Republic of Congo, showing the central bank name and the value 5 Francs with decorative devices.
World
Egypt 20 Qirsh
The 20 qirsh was Egypt's largest silver coin under the Khedivate, bearing the Ottoman sultan's tughra; this example dates to 1905.
World
Akçe
The akçe was the tiny silver coin at the heart of the early Ottoman economy, struck with Arabic-script inscriptions and no portrait or figural imagery.
Medieval
Liberia 20 Dollars
A modern Liberian 20-dollar commemorative coin dated 2001, pairing the national arms with a saint and ecclesiastical architecture on the reverse.
World
Styca of Eanred
Small base-metal coin of King Eanred of Northumbria, with a cross and legend on one face and a central symbolic motif on the other.
Medieval Coins
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
Philip 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.
Ancient
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
Straits Settlements One Cent
A round bronze one-cent coin of the British Straits Settlements bearing the crowned profile of King George V, dated 1920.
Colonial
Barbados 1 Cent
A modern copper-colored Barbados one cent: the national coat of arms on the obverse and the value on the reverse, the smallest coin of the Barbadian dollar.
Circulation
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
Groat of William IV
A small silver fourpenny piece of William IV (1836–1837), with a seated Britannia reverse; the coin that revived the modern British groat.
Milled
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
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)
Patacao
A Portuguese silver coin known as the patacao, a larger member of the pataca family, carrying the royal coat of arms and a crowned heraldic shield.
Circulation
Pakistan One Rupee
An early coin of newly independent Pakistan, dated 1948, with the GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN legend framing an ornate Islamic geometric and floral design.
South Asia
Bhutan 5 Sengtrum
A small cupro-nickel Bhutanese coin of 1979 worth five Sengtrum, with the national emblem on the obverse and a traditional architectural gateway on the reverse.
Himalayan
Buffalo Nickel
Iconic U.S. five-cent coin struck 1913–1938, with a Native American profile on the obverse and a standing American buffalo on the reverse.
Nickel Five Cent
Antoninianus of Carinus
Bronze radiate coin of the emperor Carinus (283-285 AD), recognizable by his spiked crown and a standing or seated deity on the reverse.
Ancient
Antiochos III Tetradrachm
A large Seleucid silver coin of Antiochos III the Great, showing his diademed head and a seated deity holding shield and spear.
Ancient