Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
French Louis d'Or
The Louis d'Or was the principal gold coin of the French monarchy for over 150 years, named after the kings Louis who issued it, and struck until the eve of the Revolution.
European
French Indochina Sarraut Piastre (1931)
A reduced-weight silver piastre introduced in 1931 for French Indochina after rising world silver prices made the older, larger trade piastre worth more in bullion than in face value.
Asian
Argentina 8 Reales
Silver 8 reales struck after Argentina's 1810 independence movement, replacing the Spanish king's portrait with the revolutionary Sun of May and clasped hands design.
Latin American
Austrian 20 Corona Gold
A compact gold coin of the Austro-Hungarian Empire depicting Emperor Franz Joseph I, widely available today as an accessible historic gold piece.
European
Ottoman 20 Kurus
Ottoman silver coin denominated in kuruş, bearing the sultan's ornate calligraphic tughra rather than a portrait, in keeping with Islamic artistic tradition.
World
Chilean 20 Pesos Gold
The smallest of Chile's regular gold coin denominations, issued both in an earlier 19th-century gold peso series and later as part of the 1926 condor-themed gold reform.
Latin American
2004 Texas State Quarter
A 2004 entry in the 50 State Quarters Program depicting an outline of Texas with a lone star, honoring the state's independent history as the Lone Star State.
United States
Japanese Meiji Gold 20 Yen
The largest and highest-denomination gold coin of Meiji-era Japan, featuring an imperial dragon design, struck to underpin Japan's modern gold-backed currency system.
Asian
Brazilian 2000 Reis Silver
The largest common silver coin of the Brazilian Empire, bearing the portrait of Emperor Pedro II across several design types spanning his long reign.
Latin American
2000 Sydney Olympics Coin Series
The Royal Australian Mint issued one of the largest circulating commemorative coin programs ever produced for a single Olympics, featuring numerous $5 designs alongside premium silver and gold proof coins for the Sydney 2000 Games.
Commemorative
Lincoln Bicentennial Cent (2009)
A one-year series of four different reverse designs issued in 2009 to mark the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth and the centennial of the Lincoln cent.
Commemorative
Italian 20 Lire Gold (Vittorio Emanuele)
The Kingdom of Italy's standard 20 lire gold coin, issued under kings including Vittorio Emanuele II, sharing the Latin Monetary Union's gold specifications with coins like the French Napoleon.
European
2000-P Sacagawea Cheerios Dollar
A famous modern rarity: early-production 2000-P Sacagawea dollars included in Cheerios cereal boxes as a promotion, some showing enhanced eagle tail feather detail not found on later coins.
Errors & Varieties
Spanish 20 Pesetas Gold (Alfonso XII)
Spain's standard gold coin of the Latin Monetary Union era, struck under King Alfonso XII following the restoration of the Spanish monarchy in the 1870s.
European
2008 Beijing Olympics Commemorative Coins
China issued a large multi-year coin program ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, spanning circulating 1 Yuan pieces and extensive gold and silver proof series depicting Olympic sports and Beijing landmarks.
Commemorative
2019 Lowell America the Beautiful Quarter
A 2019 America the Beautiful Quarter honoring Lowell National Historical Park in Massachusetts, depicting a textile mill worker representing the American Industrial Revolution.
United States
Royal Canadian Mint Colored Poppy Quarter (2004)
Canada's 2004 poppy quarter is widely credited as the world's first coin with a colored design produced for general circulation, honoring Canadian war remembrance with a red poppy at its center.
Commemorative
Laurel
A gold twenty-shilling coin issued from 1619, named for its laureate royal portrait styled after Roman emperors, replacing the earlier Unite as James I's principal gold denomination.
British
2010 Yellowstone America the Beautiful Quarter
The second release in the America the Beautiful Quarters series, depicting the iconic Old Faithful geyser erupting in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.
United States
2005 Minnesota State Quarter Extra Tree (Doubled Die)
A doubled-die variety of the 2005 Minnesota state quarter that produces the illusion of an extra tree trunk among the treeline in the design, popular with modern variety collectors.
Errors & Varieties
Chilean 100 Pesos Gold 'Condor'
Chile's flagship 20th-century gold coin, popularly called the "Condor" for the majestic Andean bird featured on its reverse, historically prized as an internationally recognized gold piece.
Latin American
1900 Lafayette Dollar
The first United States commemorative silver dollar, struck in 1900 to help fund a statue of the Marquis de Lafayette presented to France at the Paris Exposition.
Commemorative
Classic Head Large Cent
A short-lived early copper cent design with Liberty wearing a simple fillet, struck during the years surrounding the War of 1812.
United States
Coronet Large Cent
A large copper cent series featuring Liberty wearing a coronet, produced through the "Matron Head" and "Young Head" phases before the Braided Hair design took over.
United States