Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Patacao
A Portuguese silver coin known as the patacao, a larger member of the pataca family, carrying the royal coat of arms and a crowned heraldic shield.
Circulation
Broad
A gold twenty-shilling coin of the Protectorate bearing Oliver Cromwell's Roman-style profile and a crowned quartered shield, dated 1656.
Hammered
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
Antiochos III Tetradrachm
A large Seleucid silver coin of Antiochos III the Great, showing his diademed head and a seated deity holding shield and spear.
Ancient
2 Soldi
A small base-metal coin of the Republic of Genoa worth two soldi, typically showing a heraldic lion and a fortified castle gateway.
Early Modern
Maundy One Penny
The smallest British Maundy silver coin, bearing a crowned Roman numeral I; this example was struck in 1687 under James II.
Maundy
Bicentennial Quarter
U.S. 25-cent coin issued for the 1976 Bicentennial, pairing Washington's portrait with a Colonial drummer and the dual date 1776-1976.
Quarter
Triple Unite
The largest English hammered gold coin, struck for Charles I during the Civil War and valued at 60 shillings (three pounds).
Hammered
Ottoman Manghir
The manghir was the small copper coin of the Ottoman Empire, used for everyday change; this example bears a tughra and dates to the reign of Murad II.
Medieval Islamic
Maria Theresa Thaler
A large silver Austrian trade coin bearing the bust of Empress Maria Theresa, famously frozen at the date 1780 and restruck for centuries.
World
East African 5 Cents
A holed copper-nickel colonial coin with a crown above scrollwork and EAST AFRICA lettering, issued by the East African Currency Board.
World
Byzantine Nummus of Tiberius Constantine
A small bronze coin of Byzantine emperor Tiberius II Constantine (AD 578-582), with an imperial portrait or inscription and a mark of value or monogram.
Ancient
25 Euro (Bionik)
Austria's 2012 silver-niobium 25 euro coin, part of the Silver Niobium Series, with a purple niobium core and a Bionik (bionics) theme.
Commemorative
New Zealand Florin
New Zealand's silver two-shilling coin; this 1933 first-year example shows a kiwi and the legend NEW ZEALAND ONE FLORIN.
New Zealand
Laurel
A hammered English gold coin of James I worth twenty shillings, named for the king's laurel-wreathed profile, struck 1619-1625.
Hammered
Irish Pistole
A rare hammered gold emergency coin of 1640s Ireland, marked with its weight in pennyweights and grains rather than a portrait, and rated as a pistole.
Hammered
Half Groat of Henry VIII
A small hammered English silver coin worth twopence, struck across the reign of Henry VIII and bearing his crowned facing bust.
Hammered
Double Rupi
A large Afsharid silver coin of Nader Shah, the double rupi, dated AH 1151 and covered in flowing Persian calligraphy and ornamental scrollwork.
Historic
Edward IV Half Angel
Medieval English gold coin of King Edward IV, half the value of the angel, showing Saint Michael slaying a dragon with a spear and shield.
Medieval Coins
Aureus of Marcus Aurelius
Small Roman gold coin of the reign of Marcus Aurelius; this piece shows a diademed portrait and a standing deity or personification, dated to 163 AD.
Ancient Coins
Tanzania 200 Shillings
A golden-brass circulating coin of the United Republic of Tanzania, showing a large African animal in grass with a bold 200 and a Swahili shilling legend.
World
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
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
8 Escudos (Carolus)
The largest Spanish gold coin of the age, the 8 Escudos or doubloon, struck under the Habsburg Carolus rulers with the crowned quartered royal arms.
Early Modern