Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Massachusetts Oak Tree Shilling
The second design in Massachusetts Bay's colonial tree-coin series, showing an oak tree, more available than the earlier Willow Tree type but still a scarce early American colonial rarity.
United States
1861 Confederate Half Dollar
An extraordinarily rare Civil War-era coin struck briefly at the Confederate-controlled New Orleans mint, using a genuine CSA reverse die paired with an existing US half dollar obverse.
United States
1883 No Cents Liberty Head Nickel
The first-year Liberty Head Nickel design that omitted the word CENTS from the reverse, later infamous as the 'Racketeer Nickel' after being gold-plated and passed off as a five-dollar coin.
United States
1943 'V' Victory Nickel (tombac)
A wartime Canadian five-cent coin struck in golden tombac with a bold V for Victory and a Morse code message around its edge, issued when nickel metal was diverted to the war effort.
Canadian
Nova Constellatio Copper
Distinctive early American copper coin featuring a radiant eye within a circle of stars, associated with Gouverneur Morris's proposed decimal coinage plans of the early 1780s.
United States
Australian Gold Sovereign (Sydney Mint)
Gold sovereign struck at the Sydney Mint, Australia's first branch mint, opened to coin gold from the New South Wales gold rushes into imperial currency.
Africa & Oceania
Brazil 960 Reis
Brazilian silver coin created by overstriking Spanish colonial 8 reales with new Portuguese royal dies, issued after the Portuguese royal court relocated to Brazil.
Latin American
Chinese Platinum Panda
China's platinum bullion coin series, sister to the famous Gold Panda, featuring a new panda design nearly every year since its 1987 debut.
Bullion
British Queen's Beasts Silver Series
A ten-coin Royal Mint bullion series honoring the heraldic Queen's Beasts statues from Queen Elizabeth II's 1953 coronation, issued 2016-2021.
British
Spanish Colonial Cob 8 Reales (Macuquina)
A crudely hand-struck Spanish colonial silver coin, cut from irregular silver bars and stamped with a cross and shield, famed worldwide as the original 'piece of eight'.
Latin American
Gold Sovereign
Iconic British gold pound coin, revived in 1817 with Benedict Pistrucci's celebrated St George and the Dragon design, struck for centuries in London and branch mints worldwide.
British
Japanese Meiji Gold 20 Yen
The largest and highest-denomination gold coin of Meiji-era Japan, featuring an imperial dragon design, struck to underpin Japan's modern gold-backed currency system.
Asian
Finnish Markka
Finland's national currency from the era of Russian imperial rule until the adoption of the euro, issued in a range of coin denominations reflecting the country's changing political history.
European
German Prussia 20 Mark Gold
The standard gold coin of Prussia within the newly unified German Empire, featuring successive Prussian kings and forming a key part of the empire's gold mark system.
European
French Louis d'Or
The Louis d'Or was the principal gold coin of the French monarchy for over 150 years, named after the kings Louis who issued it, and struck until the eve of the Revolution.
European
Prussian Thaler
The Prussian Thaler was the leading silver coin of the powerful Kingdom of Prussia, circulating from the mid-18th century until German unification replaced it with the mark in 1871–1873.
European
George V Ten Cents
Canada's silver ten-cent coin struck throughout the long reign of King George V, spanning the First World War era through to the mid-1930s.
Canadian
1870 Victoria Twenty-Five Cents
The first twenty-five-cent coin struck for the newly formed Dominion of Canada, issued in 1870 to replace the earlier, often-confused 1858 twenty-cent piece.
Canadian
Victorian Silver Five Cents
The small sterling silver five-cent coin struck under Queen Victoria for the Province of Canada and later the Dominion of Canada, issued intermittently from 1858 to 1901.
Canadian
1951 Nickel Commemorative Five Cents
A special Canadian five-cent coin marking the 200th anniversary of the isolation of the element nickel, struck in the metal itself to honor Canada's role as a leading nickel producer.
Commemorative
Gordian III Antoninianus
Radiate silver coin of Gordian III, who became sole emperor at about thirteen years old and reigned through Rome's costly war with Sassanid Persia.
Ancient
Australian Gold Nugget (Kangaroo)
Australia's premier gold bullion coin, originally depicting real gold nuggets before switching to an annually changing kangaroo design, struck in .9999 fine gold.
Bullion
Swiss 20 Franc Vreneli
Switzerland's classic gold franc coin, depicting a young Swiss woman nicknamed Vreneli on the obverse and the Swiss shield on the reverse, a favorite of gold savers for over a century.
European
Merovingian Gold Tremissis
A small gold coin of the Merovingian Frankish kingdom, worth one-third of a solidus, often naming the local moneyer who struck it rather than the reigning king.
European