Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Lincoln Shield Cent
The current Lincoln cent reverse, introduced in 2010, depicts a Union shield replacing the earlier Lincoln Memorial design as the fourth reverse in the cent's history.
United States
1796 Half Cent
One of the great rarities of American copper coinage, the 1796 half cent was struck in the Liberty Cap design in a very limited quantity, with 'With Pole' and rarer 'No Pole' varieties known.
United States
Massachusetts Cent (1787-1788)
State-issued copper coinage struck by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1787 and 1788, notable as the first official U.S. coinage to use the denomination 'cent'.
United States
1914-D Lincoln Cent
A famous key date in the Lincoln wheat cent series, prized for its low mintage from the Denver Mint and ranked among the most important dates collectors need to complete the series.
United States
1943 Bronze Lincoln Cent
An extremely rare mint error in which a small number of 1943 Lincoln cents were accidentally struck in leftover bronze rather than the intended wartime zinc-coated steel.
Errors & Varieties
Flowing Hair Wreath Cent
The replacement for the controversial Chain cent, struck for just a few months in 1793 with a simple wreath reverse instead of a chain.
United States
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
Liberty Cap Half Cent
The first design used on the U.S. half cent, struck from 1793 to 1797, showing Liberty wearing a soft cap on the obverse and a wreath on the reverse.
United States
Braided Hair Half Cent
The final United States half cent design, struck from 1840 to 1857, featuring Liberty with braided hair, before the denomination was discontinued.
United States
1857 Flying Eagle Cent
The first-year circulation issue of the Flying Eagle Cent, marking the debut of the small-format cent that replaced the old large copper cent.
United States
1864 Two-Cent Piece
The debut year of the two-cent piece, the first US coin to bear the motto In God We Trust, issued in Small Motto and Large Motto varieties.
United States
1858 Flying Eagle Cent
The final year of the short-lived Flying Eagle Cent, struck in Large Letters and Small Letters varieties before the Indian Head design replaced it in 1859.
United States
George V Fifty Cents
Canada's fifty-cent silver coin issued under King George V, spanning a reduction in silver fineness in 1920 and including the famously rare 1921 date.
Canadian
Edward VII Ten Cents
Canada's silver ten-cent coin struck during the brief reign of King Edward VII, bridging the Victorian and Georgian eras of Canadian coinage design.
Canadian
1995 Doubled Die Lincoln Cent
A widely collected doubled die variety showing clear doubling on LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST on the obverse, notable for being far more available in circulation than earlier famous Lincoln cent doubled dies.
Errors & Varieties
1851 Silver Three-Cent Piece
The first-year issue of the tiny Type I silver three-cent piece, nicknamed the trime, created to ease a national shortage of small change and postage-stamp coinage.
United States
1878 Twenty-Cent Piece (Proof)
The final-year proof-only issue of the US twenty-cent piece, struck for collectors just before Congress formally ended the short-lived denomination.
United States
1877 Twenty-Cent Piece (Proof)
A proof-only issue of the twenty-cent piece, struck for collectors after the denomination had already been abandoned for regular circulation.
United States
1875-CC Twenty-Cent Piece
A Carson City strike of the short-lived US twenty-cent piece, valued both for its unusual denomination and its Wild West mint origin.
United States
1909-S Indian Head Cent
The final and lowest-mintage Indian Head cent, struck at the San Francisco Mint in the series' last year before the Lincoln cent debuted.
United States
1972 Doubled Die Lincoln Cent
A famous Lincoln cent error showing strong doubling on the obverse date and lettering, caused by a misaligned die hub during production at the Philadelphia Mint.
Errors & Varieties
1864 L Indian Head Cent
A famous variety of the 1864 bronze Indian Head cent bearing a tiny L on Liberty's ribbon for designer James Longacre, one of the most recognized key varieties in the series.
United States
Copper-Nickel Indian Head Cent
The earliest Indian Head cents, struck in copper-nickel from 1859 to 1864 before the Mint switched to a thinner bronze alloy, nicknamed 'white cents' for their pale color.
United States
1793 Liberty Cap Half Cent
The first-year half cent, struck in 1793 with a distinctive 'Head Facing Left' Liberty Cap design used only that single year before the design was revised.
United States