Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
1858 Victoria Five Cents (silver)
The first Canadian five-cent coin, a tiny sterling silver piece struck for the Province of Canada in 1858 when decimal currency was introduced to replace older colonial money.
Canadian
Victorian Silver Five Cents
The small sterling silver five-cent coin struck under Queen Victoria for the Province of Canada and later the Dominion of Canada, issued intermittently from 1858 to 1901.
Canadian
1870 Victoria Twenty-Five Cents
The first twenty-five-cent coin struck for the newly formed Dominion of Canada, issued in 1870 to replace the earlier, often-confused 1858 twenty-cent piece.
Canadian
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
George Noble
A short-lived English gold coin of 1526 depicting St. George slaying the dragon, among the rarest coins of Henry VIII's reign.
British
Two Pound Coin
The UK's bimetallic £2 coin, standardized for circulation in the late 1990s, widely used for a rotating series of commemorative reverse designs.
British
Australian Florin (pre-decimal)
Pre-decimal Australian silver florin worth two shillings, minted from 1910 until decimalization replaced it with the 20-cent coin in 1966.
Africa & Oceania
Maundy Twopence
A small silver twopence struck each year as part of the Royal Maundy set, historically descended from the medieval silver half groat and still distributed in the annual royal alms ceremony.
British
Virginia Halfpenny
An official royal copper coinage struck in London specifically for the Colony of Virginia, showing King George III, whose distribution was disrupted by the approaching American Revolution.
United States
Florin (Two Shillings)
A British silver coin worth two shillings, notable for the controversial 1849 'Godless Florin' that omitted the customary religious motto, and for foreshadowing decimal coinage.
British
Cartwheel Twopence (1797)
An enormous two-ounce copper twopence struck in 1797, the largest coin ever produced for circulation in Britain, made famous for its heavy raised cartwheel-style rim.
British
St George Sovereign (Pistrucci)
The modern gold sovereign's iconic reverse showing St George slaying the dragon, engraved by Benedetto Pistrucci in 1817 and still used on British sovereigns to this day.
British
New Zealand Florin (pre-decimal)
New Zealand's pre-decimal florin, famous for its kiwi-bird reverse design, circulated from 1933 until decimalization replaced it with the 20-cent coin in 1967.
Africa & Oceania
Two Pound Gold (Double Sovereign)
A gold coin worth two pounds sterling and roughly twice the weight of a sovereign, struck mainly for jubilees, coronations, and modern proof or bullion sets rather than daily circulation.
British
Mithradates VI Pontos Tetradrachm
A Hellenistic silver tetradrachm portraying Mithradates VI Eupator of Pontos, Rome's fiercest eastern rival, with his distinctive wind-swept diademed portrait and a grazing stag reverse.
Ancient
1939 Royal Visit Silver Dollar (Parliament)
A commemorative Canadian silver dollar marking the 1939 royal tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, with the Parliament Buildings depicted on the reverse.
Canadian
Spanish Colonial 8 Reales Ferdinand VII
A large silver 8 reales coin struck across Spain's American colonies bearing the portrait of King Ferdinand VII, widely circulated internationally and historically linked to the origin of the US dollar sign.
World
Visigothic Gold Tremissis
Small gold coin of the Visigothic kings of Spain, evolving from crude imitations of Roman/Byzantine coinage into the first distinctly national royal coinage of post-Roman Western Europe.
European
Viking Silver Penny of York
Silver penny struck by Norse rulers of the Viking Kingdom of York, blending Christian and pagan imagery such as crosses, swords, and Thor's hammers.
British
English Sovereign of Henry VII
The first English sovereign, introduced by Henry VII in 1489 as a large, prestigious gold coin showing the king enthroned in majesty, meant to project royal power after the Wars of the Roses.
British
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
Hong Kong Silver Dollar (1866–1868, Victoria)
A short-lived silver dollar struck at Britain's ill-fated Hong Kong Mint, bearing a young portrait of Queen Victoria; the mint closed within two years.
Asian
Rosa Americana Coinage
A British-issued colonial coinage for America under a patent granted to William Wood, showing a rose and King George I, that was widely rejected by colonists for its poor metal and overvaluation.
United States
English Angel
A gold coin depicting the Archangel Michael slaying a dragon, issued for nearly two centuries and later famous for its use as a royal 'touch-piece' for the healing ceremony of the King's Evil.
British