Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Denarius of Septimius Severus
Silver denarius of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus (193–211 AD), showing his laureate head and a standing reverse figure.
Ancient
Sestertius of Commodus
A large Roman bronze sestertius of Emperor Commodus (180–192 AD), his laureate bearded head on one side and a standing figure on the other.
Ancient
20 Reales (Isabel II)
Crown-sized Spanish silver 20 Reales of Queen Isabel II, with her crowned right-facing profile and a crowned pillared shield, dated 1854.
Modern
German 5 Reichsmark (Hindenburg)
German silver 5 Reichsmark of the Third Reich, pairing a portrait of Paul von Hindenburg with an eagle-and-swastika reverse; dated 1936.
Circulation
Penny of Cnut
Anglo-Saxon silver penny of King Cnut (Canute), showing a diademed bust facing left with a cross-and-pellets reverse, struck c.1024-1030.
Medieval Coins
Dutch East Indies Duit
Small copper duit of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), showing the interlaced VOC monogram and a crowned provincial coat of arms, dated 1735.
Southeast Asia
Shanxi 2 Fen
A holed Republic-era Chinese copper 2 Fen struck for Shanxi Province, dated 1931, with a numeral 2 and Chinese legends around a central hole.
Circulation
Mughal Quarter-Rupee
A small hammered Mughal silver quarter-rupee inscribed in Persian, struck at the Lahore mint and dated Ilahi 47 (AD 1602-1603).
Historic
Denarius of Augustus
Silver denarius of Augustus (c. 19-18 BC) with his bare head and a comet-star of the deified Julius Caesar, inscribed DIVVS IVLIVS.
Ancient Coins
Ghaznavid Dinar
Gold dinar of the Ghaznavid dynasty (c. 10th–11th century), an epigraphic Islamic coin struck at Ghazna and allied mints in Afghanistan.
Medieval Islamic
Silver Dirham of Sultan Qalawun
A hand-struck Mamluk silver dirham of Sultan Qalawun of Egypt, covered on both faces with Arabic calligraphy and struck AD 1279–1290.
Islamic
Liberty Head Double Eagle
U.S. $20 gold coin struck 1850–1907, showing a coroneted Liberty head left and a heraldic eagle with shield; the 1869 is a with-motto Type 2.
Double Eagle
Mercury Dime
U.S. silver ten-cent coin struck 1916–1945, showing a winged-cap Liberty head on the obverse and a fasces with an olive branch on the reverse.
Dime
Buffalo Nickel
Iconic U.S. five-cent coin struck 1913–1938, with a Native American profile on the obverse and a standing American buffalo on the reverse.
Nickel Five Cent
Shield Nickel
The first U.S. five-cent piece struck in copper-nickel, showing a Union shield on the obverse and a large numeral 5 on the reverse, made 1866–1883.
Nickel Five Cent
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
Capped Bust Half Dollar
U.S. fifty-cent silver coin struck 1807–1839, showing Liberty in a Phrygian cap surrounded by stars and a heraldic eagle on a shield.
Half Dollar
Coronet (Matron Head) Large Cent
A pure-copper U.S. one-cent piece from 1816–1839, showing Liberty in a beaded coronet on the obverse and ONE CENT inside a wreath.
Large Cent
Draped Bust Dollar
Early U.S. silver dollar struck 1795–1804, with a draped bust of Liberty and, from 1798, a heraldic eagle reverse.
Dollar
Artuqid Bronze Dirham
A 12th-century bronze coin of the Artuqid Turkmen dynasty, struck with Arabic inscriptions inside ornamental borders across eastern Anatolia.
Medieval Islamic
Denarius of Didius Julianus
A silver denarius of Didius Julianus, the short-lived emperor of 193 AD, bearing his laureate portrait and an imperial standing reverse.
Ancient
Numapis Denarius
A silver denarius of the Roman Republic (1st century BC) pairing a male portrait facing right with a ship or galley and lettering on the reverse.
Ancient
Livonian Order Schilling
A small hammered silver schilling of the medieval Livonian Order, showing heraldic shields and a cross, struck in the Baltic around 1410–1415.
Medieval
New Zealand Sixpence
New Zealand's small silver sixpence, famed for its native-bird reverse. This 1934 example shows King George V and the bird design with NEW ZEALAND SIXPENCE.
New Zealand