Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Antiochos Hierax Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm of the Seleucid prince Antiochos Hierax, c. 242-227 BC, with a diademed royal head and a reverse figure bearing shield and spear.
Ancient
Edward I Penny
Hammered silver penny of Edward I, showing a crowned facing bust on the obverse and a long voided cross with pellets in the quadrants on the reverse.
Medieval Coins
Half Laurel
Hammered English gold ten-shilling piece of James I, named for the king's laureate portrait; the half of the full Laurel denomination.
Hammered
Joachimsthaler (Thaler)
A large early-16th-century Bohemian silver thaler from Joachimsthal, dated 1525; the coin whose name gave rise to the words 'thaler' and 'dollar'.
Early Modern
Corinthian Drachm
A silver drachm of ancient Corinth pairing a helmeted head of Athena with the city's emblem, the winged horse Pegasus, struck in the mid-4th century BC.
Ancient
Edward III Half Groat
Hammered silver English half groat of Edward III showing a crowned facing bust and a long voided cross with pellets on the reverse.
Medieval Coins
5 Aurar
Icelandic bronze 5 aurar of the Kingdom era, marked ÍSLAND with a crowned KONUNGDÓMUR ÍSLANDS reverse, struck 1926-1942.
World
Barbados 10 Cents
A small copper-nickel Barbadian 10-cent coin showing the national coat of arms on one side and the value and country name on the other.
Circulation
Edward IV Ryal
English medieval gold coin of Edward IV showing the king armored in a ship with a shield, and a radiant rose-on-sun design on the reverse.
Medieval Coins
Samanid Dirham
A hand-struck silver dirham of the Samanid dynasty, covered on both sides in Arabic Kufic script naming God, the caliph and the mint — no images at all.
Islamic (Medieval)
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
Syracuse Dekadrachm
Large silver dekadrachm of Syracuse, c. 405-380 BC, showing a racing quadriga crowned by Victory and a head of the nymph Arethusa with flowing hair.
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
American Platinum Eagle
The United States' official platinum bullion coin, struck in .9995 fine platinum with a Statue of Liberty obverse; this is the 1998 one-tenth-ounce $10 issue.
Bullion
Australian Crown
Australia's only crown (five-shilling) coin, a large sterling-silver piece struck in 1937 and 1938 with a George VI portrait and a crown reverse.
Australian
Württemberg Kreuzer
A small silver 1 Kreuzer of the Duchy of Württemberg, dated 1690, with a heraldic coat of arms and a crowned shield over scrollwork.
German States
25 Gulden
The gold 25 Gulden of the Free City of Danzig, dated 1923, pairing the lion-supported Danzig arms with an armed female figure holding a trident.
Modern
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
Laurel
A hammered English gold coin of James I worth twenty shillings, named for the king's laurel-wreathed profile, struck 1619-1625.
Hammered
Edward III Half Noble
Medieval English gold coin worth half a noble, this example showing King Edward III crowned with heraldic devices and a shielded, ornamented reverse.
Medieval Coins
Gallic Imitation Stater
A gold stater struck by the tribes of Gaul, whose stylized head and single horse descend from Greek Macedonian prototypes reworked into abstract Celtic art.
Ancient
Ceylon 5 Rupees
A 1957 Ceylon silver 5 Rupees marking 2500 years of Buddhism, with a large 2500 on one side and RUPEES CEYLON with the 1957 date on the other.
Commemorative
Bhutan 10 Sengtrum
A 1979 cupro-nickel minor coin of the Kingdom of Bhutan, worth one-tenth of a ngultrum, with the national arms on one face and an ornamental gateway on the other.
Himalayan
Australian Fifty Cents
Australia's 50 cent coin bearing the national coat of arms. The 1966 round issue shown here was struck in silver; later 12-sided coins are cupronickel.
Australian