Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Turban Head Quarter Eagle
First U.S. $2.50 gold coin (1796), designed by Robert Scot; Liberty in a soft cap facing right with a heraldic eagle reverse. Extremely rare.
United States
Capped Head Half Eagle
A U.S. five-dollar gold coin struck 1813–1834, showing a left-facing capped Liberty with stars and a heraldic eagle bearing a shield and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
United States
Turban Head Half Eagle
First U.S. gold $5 coin, 1795: Liberty in a soft cap facing right, with a heraldic shield-breasted eagle reverse struck in 22-karat gold.
Half Eagle
Liberty Head Quarter Eagle
U.S. $2.50 gold coin struck 1840–1907, with a coronet-crowned Liberty head obverse and a shield-breasted eagle reverse marked "2½ D."
Quarter Eagle
Indian Head Quarter Eagle
U.S. $2.50 gold coin of 1908–1929 with a sunken (incuse) design: an Indian in a feathered war bonnet on the obverse and a standing eagle reverse.
Quarter Eagle
Capped Head Quarter Eagle
A rare early U.S. $2.50 gold coin struck 1821–1834, showing a left-facing capped Liberty head amid stars and a heraldic eagle with shield and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
United States
Three-Dollar Gold Piece
An unusual U.S. gold coin of the $3 denomination struck 1854–1889, showing a Liberty head in a feathered Indian-style headdress. The photo shows the 1854 first year.
Gold Type Coin
Mercury Dime Centennial Gold
A 2016-W gold collector coin marking the centennial of the 1916 Mercury dime, struck in 1/10 oz of 24-karat gold at West Point.
Dime
Alexander the Great Gold Quarter Stater
A small gold fraction of the Alexander the Great coinage, showing the head of Heracles and an eagle perched on a thunderbolt, the attributes of Zeus.
Ancient
Cambodia One Franc
A mid-20th-century one-franc coin of the Kingdom of Cambodia, its obverse bearing a royal Norodom profile and its reverse a heraldic coat of arms.
Southeast Asia
Swedish Gold Commemorative
An early-20th-century Swedish gold coin showing a right-facing royal profile with the legend SVERIGES KONUNG and the fatherland motto.
Commemorative
200 CFA Francs
A modern West African CFA coin worth 200 francs, showing a bold '200 FCFA' with decorative border on one face and a crossed emblem on the other.
World
Paquet Double Eagle
An 1861 U.S. $20 gold piece with the standard Liberty Head obverse paired with Anthony Paquet's rare tall-letter reverse variety.
Gold Type Coin
Spade Guinea
A late George III gold guinea named for the distinctive spade-shaped shield on its reverse, struck in England from 1787 into the early 1800s.
Milled
Half Sovereign
A small British 22-carat gold coin worth ten shillings; this example shows Queen Victoria's veiled, crowned Jubilee Head portrait and is dated 1887.
World Coins
Imperial Chervonets
A small imperial Russian gold chervonets bearing the right-facing bust of Peter III with regalia and the crowned double-headed eagle, dated 1762.
Early Modern
Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle
United States $20 gold coin (1907–1933) designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, showing a striding Liberty with torch and olive branch before a radiant sun.
Gold Type Coin
Capped Bust Half Eagle
Early U.S. five-dollar gold coin with a left-facing capped Liberty and a shield-breasted eagle marked "5 D."; the 1822 shown is a legendary rarity.
United States
Shilling of George III
A milled silver shilling of George III from the Great Recoinage, with his laureate bust facing right and a crowned quartered royal shield within the Garter.
Milled
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
Sovereign of William IV
A 22-carat gold sovereign of William IV, with the king's bare head facing right and a crowned royal shield of arms on the reverse.
Milled
Capped Bust Eagle
The first United States gold ten-dollar coin, struck 1795–1804 with a capped Liberty bust and, in later years, a heraldic eagle bearing a shield and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
United States
Aureus of Augustus
Roman imperial gold coin bearing the bare head of Augustus, first emperor of Rome, struck during his reign from 27 BC to 14 AD.
Ancient Coins
Islamic Gold Dinar (LACMA M.2006.143.8)
A medieval Islamic gold dinar in the LACMA collection, struck with purely calligraphic Arabic legends and a decorative border — the classic imageless coin of the caliphates.
Islamic (Medieval)