Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Spanish 8 Reales (Piece of Eight)
The legendary 'piece of eight,' Spain's silver dollar-sized coin that became the world's first truly global currency and the direct ancestor of the U.S. dollar.
World
Norwegian Speciedaler
Norway's principal silver coin from the establishment of its independent currency in 1816 until the krone reform of the 1870s.
European
German 3 Mark Silver
A large silver coin of Imperial Germany, issued by the various constituent states with distinct rulers' portraits and commemorative designs.
European
Una and the Lion Five Pound
A legendary 1839 gold proof depicting young Queen Victoria as Una leading a lion, widely considered one of the most beautiful coins ever struck and a benchmark of Victorian coin art.
British
Sassanian Drachm of Khusro II
A silver coin of the long-reigning Sasanian king Khusro II, among the most commonly found ancient Persian coins, showing his ornate crowned bust and a Zoroastrian fire altar.
Ancient
New Zealand Half Crown (pre-decimal)
The largest denomination in New Zealand's regular pre-decimal coin series, featuring the national coat of arms, circulated from 1933 until decimalization in 1967.
Africa & Oceania
Egyptian Farouk 5 Piastres
Silver five-piastre coin of the Kingdom of Egypt struck during the reign of King Farouk, featuring his portrait or cipher alongside Arabic denomination legends.
Africa & Oceania
Rwandan Silver African Wildlife
A modern bullion coin series issued under Rwandan sovereignty depicting various African animals, minted in Germany and produced in different subseries by animal theme.
Africa & Oceania
Peru 1 Sol Silver 'Seated Liberty'
A classic Peruvian silver coin showing a seated female Liberty figure holding a shield and staff, struck intermittently over several decades at the Lima mint.
Latin American
Crown
Large British coin traditionally worth five shillings, historically struck in silver and famed for elaborate designs, now issued mainly as a cupro-nickel commemorative.
British
Chinese Auto Dollar (Kweichow, 1928)
Famous Chinese provincial silver dollar depicting an automobile, struck in Kweichow province in 1928 and celebrated by collectors as one of the most distinctive Chinese coin designs.
Asian
British Guinea
England's premier gold coin for over 150 years, named for the West African region that supplied much of its gold and eventually valued at 21 shillings.
British
Sassanian Silver Drachm
The standard silver coin of the Sasanian Persian Empire, featuring an elaborately crowned king's portrait and a Zoroastrian fire altar with attendants, struck for over four centuries.
Ancient
Mughal Silver Rupee (Akbar)
A silver rupee struck under Emperor Akbar, who standardized the denomination's weight and calligraphic design, establishing a coin type that shaped Indian currency for centuries.
Asian
1901-S Barber Quarter
The single rarest business-strike coin in the Barber quarter series, with an extremely small San Francisco mintage that makes even heavily worn examples valuable.
United States
1796 Draped Bust Quarter
The very first quarter dollar struck by the United States Mint, a one-year type coin with a tiny mintage that is treasured by collectors of early American silver.
United States
Roman Aureus of Augustus
A gold coin struck under Rome's first emperor, Augustus, marking the establishment of a stable imperial gold coinage that funded and symbolized the new Roman Empire.
Ancient
1891 Seated Liberty Quarter
The final year of the long-running Seated Liberty quarter design before it was replaced by the Barber quarter in 1892, popular as an affordable closing-date type coin.
United States
Sacagawea Dollar
A golden-colored, manganese-brass dollar coin (2000-present) depicting Sacagawea carrying her infant son, replacing the Susan B. Anthony dollar.
United States
French 10 Francs Gold (Napoleon Rooster)
A small French gold coin from the Third Republic featuring the Gallic rooster reverse, a smaller companion to the famous 20 francs 'Coq' gold piece.
European
Spanish 100 Reales Gold (Isabel II)
A mid-19th-century Spanish gold coin struck under Queen Isabel II, part of Spain's pre-peseta reales-based monetary system.
European
German Hamburg Ducat
A small, exceptionally high-purity gold trade coin struck for centuries by the free city of Hamburg, prized for its consistent fineness and long production history.
European
Third Guinea
A small gold coin worth one-third of a guinea, or seven shillings, struck under George III in the years leading up to the introduction of the modern sovereign.
British
Vespasian Judaea Capta Sestertius
A large bronze coin of Emperor Vespasian commemorating Rome's suppression of the Jewish Revolt, showing a mourning captive beneath a palm tree with the legend IVDAEA CAPTA.
Ancient