Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Roman Denarius
A small hammered silver coin of ancient Rome, showing an emperor's portrait and abbreviated Latin titles on one side and a deity or figure on the other.
Ancient
French Semeuse 5 Francs
A silver French 5-franc coin of the Fifth Republic showing the Sower (Semeuse) striding left, with a flowered wreath around the value on the reverse.
Circulation
Barbados 25 Cents
A copper-nickel Caribbean circulation coin of Barbados; the 1998 example shows the national coat of arms on the obverse and the 25-cent value on the reverse.
Circulation
French Silver Franc
A small Third Republic silver 1-franc coin with an allegorical Marianne head and a REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE reverse; the pictured piece is dated 1899.
World
Hawaii State Quarter
The 2008 Hawaii State Quarter, final coin in the 50 State Quarters series, showing King Kamehameha I reaching over the islands.
Quarter
Eighth Thistle Merk
A small hammered silver Scottish coin of James VI, showing a crowned heraldic shield of arms on one side and a crowned thistle on the other.
Hammered
Charles I Twenty Pence
A small hammered silver twenty-pence coin of Charles I, showing his crowned profile and a heraldic reverse with rose and thistle badges.
Hammered
Spanish Colonial Half Real
The smallest milled silver coin of Spain's American empire: a tiny 1/2 real with a royal bust and the crowned arms between pillars.
Colonial
Spanish Colonial 4 Reales
A large silver colonial coin worth half a Spanish dollar, struck for Spain's American empire and bearing the crowned Spanish royal arms.
Colonial
Kiautschou 5 Cents
A 1909 nickel 5 Cent coin of the German-leased Kiautschou Bay territory in China, pairing Chinese characters with the German imperial eagle.
Colonial
Jalisco 5 Centavos
A small copper 5-centavos coin issued by the Mexican state of Jalisco in 1915 during the Revolution, with a large numeral 5 and the national eagle.
Revolutionary
1 Grosz
A small 1949 Polish one-grosz coin bearing the crownless national eagle and RZECZPOSPOLITA POLSKA, with the value 1 GROSZ framed by grain on the reverse.
Modern
20 Fillér
An early 20th-century Hungarian 20 fillér, a small base-metal coin showing the crowned Hungarian coat of arms and the FILLÉR minor denomination.
Modern
Hryvnia
Medieval silver money unit of Kievan Rus, circulating as cast silver ingots and weight-money rather than as a struck, portrait-bearing coin.
Medieval
Trinidad and Tobago 5 Cents
A bronze five-cent coin of Trinidad and Tobago showing a perched bird — the Greater Bird of Paradise, often mistaken for a parrot — with FIVE CENTS on the reverse.
Circulation
British Decimal Half Penny
The smallest UK decimal coin, a tiny bronze half-penny introduced with decimalisation in 1971, bearing a crown reverse and the Machin portrait of Elizabeth II.
British Isles
Pillar Dollar (Columnario)
Machine-struck Spanish colonial silver 8 reales showing two crowned globes between the Pillars of Hercules; a trusted world trade coin.
World Coins
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
Philippines 50 Centavos
A 1960s Philippine 50-centavos coin in copper-nickel, its obverse showing an allegorical woman with a torch and its reverse the national coat of arms.
Southeast Asia
Qianlong Tongbao (An Nam)
A bronze round cash coin with a square center hole bearing the four characters Qianlong Tongbao, cast in An Nam (Vietnam) in the imitative Chinese style.
Cash Coin
George IV One Quarter Spanish Dollar
An 1822 British colonial silver coin valued at one quarter of a Spanish dollar, part of the George IV "Anchor Money" issued for colonies in the Americas.
Colonial
George IV One Eighth Spanish Dollar
Small 1822 British colonial silver coin from the George IV "Anchor Money," a fraction of the Spanish dollar used in the West Indies and Mauritius.
Colonial
1 Hwan
A late-Joseon Korean bronze coin of one hwan, carrying a chrysanthemum-and-cartouche obverse and a traditional dragon motif with East Asian characters on the reverse.
Historic
Victoria One Rupee
Silver 1-rupee coin of British India bearing Queen Victoria's crowned bust, struck from 1862 to 1901 under Crown rule.
British India