Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Austrian Gold Ducat
A high-purity Austrian gold ducat of the Habsburg monarchy, showing a crowned ruler in military dress on the obverse and the double-headed imperial eagle on the reverse.
Bullion/gold
New Zealand Halfpenny
New Zealand's small bronze halfpenny, struck from 1940, with a royal portrait obverse and a Maori hei-tiki reverse. The coin shown is a 1940 George VI issue.
New Zealand
British Half Sovereign
A small 22-carat British gold coin worth ten shillings; the pictured example shows Queen Victoria's left-facing Young Head portrait, dated 1863.
British
Charles II Fourpence
A small milled sterling silver fourpence of Charles II, with his laureate bust and a crowned cipher of interlinked C's flanked by the national emblems.
Milled
Gold Dinar of al-Muqtadi
An aniconic Abbasid gold dinar of Caliph al-Muqtadi, covered on both faces with Arabic calligraphy and ornamental borders, struck in the later 11th century.
Islamic (Medieval)
India 1 Rupee Commemorative
Copper-nickel Republic of India one rupee showing the Ashoka Lion Capital emblem, with the value and Devanagari legends on the reverse, from the late 20th century.
Modern India
Louisiana Purchase Exposition Dollar (Jefferson)
An 1903 U.S. commemorative gold dollar honoring the Louisiana Purchase, featuring Thomas Jefferson's left-facing profile and struck for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
Classic Commemorative
Cincinnati Music Center Half Dollar
A 1936 U.S. silver half dollar honoring Cincinnati as a music center, with composer Stephen Foster on the obverse and an allegorical figure with a lyre on the reverse.
Classic Commemorative
Irish Gun Money Halfcrown (30 Pence)
Emergency base-metal halfcrown struck for James II in Ireland during 1689–1690, valued at 30 pence and carrying his portrait and, on many issues, the month of striking.
Emergency Coinage
Travancore Eight Cash
Small copper 8 Cash of Travancore State, southern India, showing the princely conch-shell emblem within a floral wreath and a denomination in local script.
Princely & Presidency States
Bangladesh 5 Taka
A modern Bangladeshi circulation coin worth five Taka, struck in nickel-plated steel, with the national emblem on the obverse and the value in Bengali on the reverse.
South Asia
Republic 1 Fen
A holed copper 1 fen of Republican China, showing a numeral 1 with Chinese characters on one side and flowering plum blossoms on the other, around a central square-ish hole.
Circulation
Macao 1 Pataca
A silver-colored 1 Pataca circulation coin of Macao dated 2007, showing Chinese characters and denomination on one face and a lighthouse-and-harbor scene on the other.
Circulation
Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Dollar
A golden manganese-brass dollar marking the 2004 bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, pairing the two explorers with Peace and Friendship imagery.
Commemorative
Keicho Oban
A large, thin oval Japanese gold oban of the Keicho era, hammer-marked with horizontal striations and bearing brush-inked ink signatures and paulownia crests.
Historic
Colombia 8 Escudos (Base Metal)
A base-metal (copper-alloy) piece styled after the colonial Colombian 8 escudos gold onza, with a Charles III profile and crowned heraldic arms dated 1760.
Colonial
Old Spanish Trail Half Dollar
A 1935 U.S. silver commemorative half dollar marking 400 years of the Old Spanish Trail, with a longhorn cow's head punning on explorer Cabeza de Vaca.
Classic Commemorative
Roman As
A base-metal As of ancient Rome, showing the double-faced head of Janus on one side and a chariot with ROMA on the other.
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
Half Thistle Merk
A hammered Scottish silver half merk of James VI, showing a crowned coat of arms on one side and a crowned thistle on the other.
Hammered
Penny of Cynethryth
Anglo-Saxon silver penny of Cynethryth, queen of Mercia and wife of Offa, and the only Anglo-Saxon queen named on her own coinage.
Medieval Coins
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
Caecidius Noctua Denarius
A silver Roman Republican denarius of the owl (noctua) symbol series, catalogued RRC 135/1 and dated c. 194–190 BC.
Ancient