Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Spanish Colonial 2 Reales (Milled)
A small milled silver coin of the Spanish Empire, struck in colonial American mints; this example is dated 1776 and shows heraldic lions, castles and a crowned shield.
Colonial
Halfcrown of William III
A silver two-shilling-and-sixpence coin of William III showing his laureate profile facing right and crowned cruciform shields of arms, dated 1696.
Milled
Aureus of Faustina II
Roman imperial gold coin with the draped bust of Faustina II, daughter of Antoninus Pius and wife of Marcus Aurelius, struck around 147-150 AD.
Ancient Coins
William IV One Rupee
Silver one-rupee coin of British India struck in 1835 under the East India Company, bearing the right-facing bust of King William IV.
British India
Republic India One Pice
A small bronze one-pice from 1950, the first year of the Republic of India, the lowest coin of the pre-decimal anna series struck in a copper alloy.
Modern India
Chilean Peso (1875 Type)
A silver one-peso coin of Chile: the national coat of arms with its lone star and laurel wreaths on one side, and a large bird in flight on the other.
Circulation
Daoguang Tongbao
A round Chinese bronze cash coin with a square center hole, cast under the Qing emperor Daoguang; this example bears the Bao Quan mint mark.
Cash Coin
10,000 Soles de Oro
A large Peruvian silver coin of 10,000 soles de oro, its obverse bearing the national coat of arms with the vicuna, cinchona tree and cornucopia.
Circulation
Saudi Arabian Silver Riyal
A large, portrait-free silver coin of King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, covered in Arabic legends and a state seal — a cornerstone of early Saudi coinage.
World
Travancore One Cash
A tiny copper coin of the princely state of Travancore, carrying the state's conch-shell emblem on one side and its cash value in local script on the other.
Princely & Presidency States
Seated Liberty Dollar
U.S. silver dollar (1840-1873) with Liberty seated holding a shield and a liberty-cap pole, ringed by stars. The pictured coin is dated 1860.
Dollar
Seated Liberty Dime with Arrows
A silver Seated Liberty dime with small arrows flanking the date, marking the 1853 weight reduction; struck 1853–1855, with the pictured coin dated 1853.
Dime
Solidus of Valentinian I
The gold solidus of Valentinian I (AD 364-375), a pure-gold coin bearing his pearl-diademed profile that anchored the late Roman monetary system.
Ancient
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
Medieval Penny
England's standard medieval coin: a small hammered silver penny with a crowned royal head on one side and a cross on the other, struck by hand across many reigns.
Medieval Coins
Cambodia One Franc
A mid-20th-century one-franc coin of the Kingdom of Cambodia, its obverse bearing a royal Norodom profile and its reverse a heraldic coat of arms.
Southeast Asia
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
Junk Dollar
China's Republic-era silver dollar with Sun Yat-sen facing left and a Chinese junk under sail on the reverse; the pictured coin is Year 23 (1934).
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