Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
4 Maravedis
A copper Spanish coin struck in the names of Carlos and Joanna, worth four maravedis (one cuarto), carrying the crowned royal arms and Pillars of Hercules.
Circulation
Panama-Pacific Exposition $50 (Octagonal)
An eight-sided $50 gold commemorative struck for San Francisco's 1915 world's fair, showing Minerva and her owl — the largest U.S. coin of its era.
Classic Commemorative
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
Pahlavi Reign Gold Medal
A gold medal of Pahlavi-era Iran, its obverse a left-facing royal portrait and its reverse the Lion and Sun beneath a crown, dated 1971.
Persia / Iran
Canadian 50 Cents
Canada's mid-century silver 50-cent piece bearing King George VI, struck in 80% silver with the Canadian coat of arms.
World Coins
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
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
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
Egyptian 10 Piastres
A modern Egyptian 10 piastres in cupro-nickel, its face carrying Arabic script framed by geometric ornament and diamond-shaped decorative patterns.
World
Hessen-Homburg Kreuzer
A small silver 1 Kreuzer of the Landgraviate of Hessen-Homburg, with a crowned arms shield and a dated 1 KREUZER value in a laurel wreath.
German States
Leif Erikson Commemorative 1000 Króna
Icelandic silver commemorative dated 2000, marking the millennium of Leif Erikson's voyage and the Norse discovery of North America.
Commemorative
Aigina Turtle Stater
Thick silver stater of the island of Aigina, c. 480-456 BC, with a sea turtle on the obverse and a divided incuse punch on the reverse.
Ancient
Papua New Guinea 5 Kina
Papua New Guinea's 1975 five-kina coin: Queen Elizabeth II in profile on the obverse, a bird-of-paradise with the K5 denomination on the reverse.
Circulation
Gibraltar Crown
A 1982 Gibraltar cupro-nickel crown marking the christening of Prince William, showing the Queen Mother and Princess Diana with the infant prince.
Commemorative
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
Minnesota State Quarter
2005 U.S. 25-cent coin in the 50 State Quarters series, showing Minnesota's outline, a common loon, anglers in a boat, and pines above 1858.
Quarter
Lysimachos Gold Stater
Gold stater of Lysimachos, king in Thrace and Macedon c. 305-281 BC, with a deified head of Alexander the Great and an enthroned Athena reverse.
Ancient
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
Escudo (Joanna and Charles V, contemporary copy)
A contemporary gilded copper-alloy copy imitating a Spanish gold escudo of Joanna and Charles V, made to pass as the real Habsburg gold coin.
Early Modern
10 Pahlavi Gold Coin
A large gold coin of Imperial Iran valued at ten Pahlavi, showing Mohammad Reza Shah on the obverse and the crowned Lion and Sun on the reverse.
Persia / Iran
Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Dollar
A golden manganese-brass dollar marking the 2004 bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, pairing the two explorers with Peace and Friendship imagery.
Commemorative
Hoxne Hoard Siliqua
A small late-Roman silver siliqua of the type found in Britain's Hoxne Hoard, with an imperial portrait and a standing figure or personified virtue.
Ancient
Bahawalpur Gold Coin
A gold coin or medallic piece linked to the princely state of Bahawalpur, its obverse bearing a uniformed royal portrait and its reverse an ornate coat of arms.
South Asia