Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Kennedy Half Dollar
U.S. fifty-cent piece introduced in 1964 to honor President John F. Kennedy; the first-year 1964 coins were struck in 90% silver.
United States
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
Flowing Hair Stella
An 1879 U.S. $4 gold pattern coin with a flowing-hair Liberty obverse and a large-star "ONE STELLA" reverse; famous rarity, never circulated.
Stella
Australian Threepence
Australia's small pre-decimal silver threepence (3d), the country's tiniest coin, struck 1910-1964. The example shown carries a George V portrait.
Australian
Charles I Unite
A large hammered gold coin of Charles I worth twenty shillings, showing his crowned profile and a crowned quartered shield of lions and fleur-de-lis.
Hammered
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
100 Won
South Korea's everyday nickel 100 won coin, showing Admiral Yi Sun-sin in his winged helmet on the obverse and a large numeral 100 on the reverse.
Circulation
Antoninianus
Roman imperial coin of the crisis era, marked by a radiate (spiked) crown on the emperor's head; struck in debased silver-and-copper billon, c. 250-270 AD.
Ancient Coins
Maundy Three Pence
A tiny sterling-silver threepence tied to Britain's Royal Maundy tradition; the photographed 1687 coin shows James II's bust and a crowned Roman numeral III.
Maundy
British Third Farthing
A tiny 1844 Victoria copper coin: young left-facing queen's bust obverse, crowned value reverse. One of Britain's smallest denominations, struck for Malta.
Circulation
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
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
Liberty Head Eagle
A United States $10 gold coin struck 1838-1907, with Christian Gobrecht's coronet-crowned Liberty head and a shielded eagle. The example shown is dated 1839.
Eagle
Booker T. Washington Memorial Half Dollar
A U.S. silver commemorative half dollar (1946–1951) honoring educator Booker T. Washington, the first African American portrayed on a U.S. coin.
Classic Commemorative
Seated Liberty Quarter
U.S. twenty-five-cent silver coin struck 1838–1891, showing Liberty seated with shield and staff on the obverse and a shield-breasted eagle on the reverse.
Quarter
Clark & Co Territorial Gold Half Eagle
An 1860 privately struck $5 gold piece from Clark, Gruber & Co. of Denver, coined from Pikes Peak gold during the Colorado gold rush.
Half Eagle
Gold Dinar of Alp Arslan
A hand-struck Islamic gold coin of the Great Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan, covered in concentric Arabic inscriptions naming the ruler and caliph, AH 455–465.
Islamic
Wu Zhu Cash
A round Han-dynasty bronze cash coin with a central square hole and two seal-script characters, Wu Zhu, naming its weight of five zhu.
Cash Coin
Qian Feng Quan Bao
A round bronze Tang cash coin with a square center hole, cast under Emperor Gaozong in the short-lived Qianfeng era and worth ten ordinary cash.
Cash Coin
Gold Dinar of Baybars I
A hand-struck gold coin of the Mamluk sultan Baybars I, covered on both faces with Arabic calligraphy naming the ruler and struck in Egypt between 1260 and 1277 CE.
Islamic
Turban Head Half Eagle
First U.S. gold $5 coin, 1795: Liberty in a soft cap facing right, with a heraldic shield-breasted eagle reverse struck in 22-karat gold.
Half Eagle
Roosevelt Dime
The circulating U.S. ten-cent coin honoring Franklin D. Roosevelt, shown here as a 1965 copper-nickel clad issue with a torch, olive, and oak reverse.
Dime
Capped Bust Half Eagle
Early U.S. five-dollar gold coin with a left-facing capped Liberty and a shield-breasted eagle marked "5 D."; the 1822 shown is a legendary rarity.
United States