Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Solidus of Justinian I
Byzantine gold solidus of Emperor Justinian I (527-565 AD), showing his crowned imperial bust with a seated figure on the reverse.
Ancient Coins
1 Leu (Carol I)
Silver 1 Leu of the Kingdom of Romania under King Carol I, with his left-facing portrait and the crowned national arms, dated 1900.
Modern
Charles I Twenty Pence
A small hammered silver twenty-pence coin of Charles I, showing his crowned profile and a heraldic reverse with rose and thistle badges.
Hammered
Milled Sixpence of Elizabeth I
An early machine-struck English silver sixpence of Elizabeth I, showing her crowned draped bust with a rose and the royal shield above a date.
Milled
Charles I Forty Pence
A hammered silver forty-pence piece of Charles I, showing his crowned armored bust and a crowned heraldic shield with the motto PRO REGE ET LEGE.
Hammered
Solidus of Constantine I the Great
Constantine the Great's gold solidus, a high-purity coin struck from about AD 309 that became the standard of late Roman and Byzantine gold.
Ancient
Follis of Constantine I and Crispus
A late-Roman bronze follis linking Constantine the Great to his son Crispus, with the emperor's right-facing portrait and a paired father-and-son bust reverse.
Ancient
Gold Dinar of Baybars I
A hand-struck gold coin of the Mamluk sultan Baybars I, covered on both faces with Arabic calligraphy naming the ruler and struck in Egypt between 1260 and 1277 CE.
Islamic
Seleucus I Nicator Tetradrachm
Large silver tetradrachm of Seleucus I Nicator, founder of the Seleucid Empire, showing a horned Alexander-type head and a mounted figure with a spear.
Ancient
Charles I Half Crown
A large hammered silver half crown of Charles I, showing the king in portrait facing left and a crowned royal shield on the reverse.
Hammered
Tetradrachm of Antiochos I Soter
A large Seleucid-era silver coin of Antiochos I Soter, showing a helmeted bearded royal head and a standing elephant, a symbol of eastern military power.
Ancient
Aureus of Constantine I the Great
A Roman gold aureus struck for Constantine I the Great, showing his laureate portrait, from the era of his rise to sole power around AD 313.
Ancient
Quarter Angel of Elizabeth I
A small Elizabethan gold coin of the early 1580s showing a crowned portrait of the queen and a cross set with heraldic shields.
Hammered
Gold Dinar of Malik Shah I
A hand-struck Seljuk gold dinar naming Malik Shah I (r. 1072–1092), covered in Arabic inscriptions with the ruler's titles and genealogy and an ornamental cartouche.
Islamic (Medieval)
Gold Dinar of Al-Walid I
An early Islamic gold dinar struck under the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I (705-715 CE), bearing only Arabic Kufic inscriptions and no images on either face.
Islamic (Medieval)
French 40 Francs Gold (Napoleon I)
A large early French gold coin showing Napoleon Bonaparte's left-facing profile and a wreathed reverse, struck in the opening years of his rule.
Bullion/gold
1 Rouble (1834)
An Imperial Russian silver 1 Rouble dated 1834, showing a right-facing imperial portrait with the Cyrillic ИМПЕРАТОРЪ legend and a crowned double-headed eagle.
Modern
50 Öre (Silver)
A small Swedish silver 50 ore of the Oscar II era, dated 1898, with the value and date in a laurel wreath on one side and the crowned Swedish arms on the other.
Modern
Canadian Silver Dollar
Canada's first circulating silver dollar, the 1935 Voyageur type, showing George V and a canoe with paddlers on the reverse.
Canadian & Provincial
British Silver Threepence
Tiny sterling-silver threepence of Queen Victoria; the young-head type shown here dates to 1858 and is one of Britain's smallest circulating coins.
British Isles
Buyid Silver Dirham
Broad, thin silver dirham of the Buyid (Buwayhid) dynasty, struck in Kufic Arabic with religious legends and marginal mint-and-date text.
Medieval Islamic
Ottoman Silver Coin
A silver coin of the Ottoman Empire bearing the sultan's tughra monogram amid floral ornament, with Arabic-script inscriptions on the reverse.
World
Almohad Silver Dirham
A distinctive square silver coin of the Almohad Caliphate, covered on both faces with geometric Arabic religious inscriptions.
World
Silver Rupee of Ahmadabad
Hand-struck Mughal silver rupee of Emperor Akbar from the Ahmadabad mint in Gujarat, dated Regnal Year 47.
Mughal India