Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Lydian Lion Trite (Electrum)
An early electrum coin from the Kingdom of Lydia bearing a roaring lion's head, among the very earliest coins struck anywhere in the world.
Ancient
Wood's Hibernia Halfpenny
A British copper coinage patented by William Wood for Ireland, controversially rejected there but widely circulated instead in colonial America, where large surplus shipments ended up in everyday trade.
United States
Vespasian Judaea Capta Sestertius
A large bronze coin of Emperor Vespasian commemorating Rome's suppression of the Jewish Revolt, showing a mourning captive beneath a palm tree with the legend IVDAEA CAPTA.
Ancient
Ptolemy I Soter Tetradrachm
A silver tetradrachm bearing the realistic portrait of Ptolemy I Soter, founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, whose eagle-on-thunderbolt reverse became the enduring badge of Ptolemaic coinage.
Ancient
French 40 Francs Gold (Napoleon)
An early gold coin of Napoleon Bonaparte as First Consul and later Emperor, struck under France's new decimal franc system.
European
French 5 Francs "Napoleon"
A large silver crown-sized coin bearing the portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte, first as First Consul and later as Emperor, marking France's decimal franc system's early flagship silver denomination.
European
Chinese Tang Dynasty Cash
The influential bronze cash coin introduced in the Tang Dynasty, inscribed "Kai Yuan Tong Bao," that established the round-with-square-hole design copied for over a thousand years.
Asian
Lydian Croeseid (Croesus Stater)
One of history's earliest bimetallic coinages, struck under the legendary King Croesus of Lydia, featuring the confronting foreparts of a lion and a bull.
Ancient
Ostrogothic Silver Quarter Siliqua
Small silver coin struck by the Ostrogothic kings of Italy in the name of the reigning Byzantine emperor, bearing the Gothic king's monogram on the reverse.
European
Kroisos (Croeseid) Gold Stater of Lydia
A pure gold stater struck under King Croesus of Lydia, part of history's first coinage issued in separate fixed-purity gold and silver denominations.
Ancient
Australian Lunar Series (Perth Mint)
Modern Australian bullion and collector coin series from the Perth Mint featuring a different Chinese zodiac animal each year, popular worldwide with precious metal collectors.
Bullion
Straits Settlements Silver Dollar
A large British colonial silver dollar struck for Singapore, Penang, and Malacca, created to give the Straits Settlements a standardized coin after decades of competing foreign trade dollars.
Asian
Viking Silver Penny of York
Silver penny struck by Norse rulers of the Viking Kingdom of York, blending Christian and pagan imagery such as crosses, swords, and Thor's hammers.
British
Japanese Trade Dollar
A short-lived Meiji-era silver coin struck to the same weight and fineness as the Mexican and U.S. Trade Dollars so Japan could compete in East Asian commerce.
Asian
Egyptian Qirsh (Muhammad Ali Era)
Silver-billon piastre struck in Egypt under Muhammad Ali Pasha in the name of the Ottoman Sultan, reflecting Egypt's growing autonomy within the empire.
Africa & Oceania
Joachimsthaler
Struck beginning in 1520 in the Bohemian silver-mining town of Joachimsthal, this large silver coin gave its name, shortened to 'thaler' and later 'dollar,' to countless currencies around the world.
European
Caligula Sestertius
A large brass sestertius of the notorious emperor Caligula, a scarce and historically fascinating coin due to his short, controversial reign and later condemnation.
Ancient
Crown
Large British coin traditionally worth five shillings, historically struck in silver and famed for elaborate designs, now issued mainly as a cupro-nickel commemorative.
British
Constantine CONSTANTINOPOLIS Commemorative
A small bronze commemorative celebrating the founding of Constantinople, showing Victory standing on a ship's prow on the reverse.
Ancient
Celtic Gold Stater
Iron Age gold coins struck by Celtic tribes across Gaul and Britain, evolving from close imitations of Macedonian staters into strikingly abstract, stylized designs.
Ancient
Constantius II Centenionalis
A bronze centenionalis of Constantius II featuring the dramatic 'Fallen Horseman' reverse, one of the most famous designs of the Late Roman Empire.
Ancient
Constantine URBS ROMA Commemorative
A small bronze commemorative honoring the city of Rome with a helmeted Roma obverse and the iconic she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus on the reverse.
Ancient
Crown of the Double Rose
A gold coin introduced by Henry VIII in 1526 as part of his coinage reform, named for the crowned Tudor double rose on its reverse.
British
Spanish 2 Reales Pillar
The Pillar 2 Reales was a fractional Spanish colonial silver coin featuring the famous Pillars of Hercules design, struck at mints across Spanish America and widely used in international trade.
Latin American