Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Spanish 8 Reales (Piece of Eight)
The legendary 'piece of eight,' Spain's silver dollar-sized coin that became the world's first truly global currency and the direct ancestor of the U.S. dollar.
World
1921 Fifty Cents (King of Canadian Coins)
Canada's most famous rarity, the 1921 fifty-cent piece survives in only a small number of known examples after most of its mintage was melted, earning it the nickname King of Canadian Coins.
Canadian
Cuba Peso 'Star' Silver (ABC Peso)
A silver dollar-sized Cuban peso featuring a prominent five-pointed star, popularly nicknamed the 'ABC Peso' and widely used interchangeably with the US silver dollar in the 1930s.
Latin American
Kellogg & Co. Gold Piece
Private gold coinage struck by the San Francisco firm Kellogg & Co. during the California Gold Rush, including the famous octagonal fifty-dollar 'slug' of 1855, filling a shortage of circulating coin.
United States
Victoria Fifty Cents (half dollar)
Canada's silver fifty-cent piece struck under Queen Victoria from 1870 to 1901, featuring her portrait and a heraldic shield-and-wreath reverse.
Canadian
Argentine Argentino Gold (5 Pesos)
Argentina's principal 19th-century gold coin, worth 5 pesos oro and called an "Argentino," struck to Latin Monetary Union weight standards for use in international trade.
Latin American
Argentine 1 Peso 'Liberty Head'
A short-lived Argentine silver peso from the early 1880s featuring a Liberty head design, struck only briefly before Argentina's monetary standards shifted.
Latin American
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
Fifty Pence
The UK's distinctive seven-sided 50p coin, introduced in 1969 to replace the ten shilling note ahead of decimalisation.
British
Roman Denarius
The workhorse silver coin of ancient Rome for over four centuries, used across the Republic and Empire and one of the most widely collected categories of ancient coinage today.
Ancient
Nerva Denarius
Silver denarius of the elderly senator Nerva, first of Rome's "Five Good Emperors," whose brief reign is best remembered for adopting Trajan as his successor.
Ancient
Classic Head Quarter Eagle
Struck from 1834 to 1839 after Congress reduced the gold weight of U.S. coins, this quarter eagle dropped the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM and features a simplified Liberty head.
United States
Trajan Denarius
The silver coin of Emperor Trajan, whose reign marked the Roman Empire's greatest territorial extent, with coin types celebrating his Dacian conquests and vast building program.
Ancient
Hadrian Denarius
The silver coin of Emperor Hadrian, famous for its extensive 'travel series' honoring the provinces he visited during his unusually extensive tours of the empire.
Ancient
Domitian Denarius
Silver coin of the last Flavian emperor, Domitian, whose lengthy autocratic reign produced abundant, well-struck denarii before his assassination and damnatio memoriae.
Ancient
Commodus Denarius
Silver denarius of Commodus, the erratic son of Marcus Aurelius, whose later coinage famously depicted him as Hercules with lion skin and club.
Ancient
Vespasian Denarius
The silver coin of Emperor Vespasian, founder of the Flavian dynasty, notably including the famous 'Judaea Capta' series commemorating Rome's suppression of the Jewish revolt.
Ancient
Julia Domna Denarius
Silver denarius of Julia Domna, Syrian-born wife of Septimius Severus and mother of Caracalla, a politically influential empress of the Severan dynasty.
Ancient
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
Elagabalus Denarius
Silver denarius of the teenage Syrian priest-emperor Elagabalus, whose brief, scandal-ridden reign is reflected in unusual reverse types tied to his sun-god cult.
Ancient
Sesquicentennial of American Independence Quarter Eagle
A $2.50 gold commemorative issued for the 150th anniversary of American independence, showing a standing Liberty with the Declaration of Independence and Independence Hall.
Commemorative
Panama-Pacific Quarter Eagle Commemorative
A 1915 commemorative gold coin honoring the Panama-Pacific Exposition, showing Liberty riding a hippocampus (sea horse), symbolizing the Panama Canal's linking of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Commemorative
Nero Denarius
The silver coin of the notorious emperor Nero, whose AD 64 currency reform slightly reduced the denarius's silver content and weight, a step in the long history of Roman debasement.
Ancient
Panama Balboa Silver
Panama's dollar-sized silver crown, named for explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa and pegged 1:1 to the US dollar throughout its history.
Latin American