Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Indian Head Cent
A long-running 19th-century one-cent coin depicting Liberty in a Native American-style feathered headdress, popular with collectors for its accessible half-century run.
United States
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
1944 Steel Cent
A rare Lincoln cent mistakenly struck on leftover steel planchets in 1944, the reverse counterpart to the famous 1943 bronze cent error.
Errors & Varieties
1943 Copper Lincoln Cent
An extremely rare mint error where a handful of 1943 cents were struck on leftover bronze planchets instead of the wartime steel used that year, making it one of the most famous US coin errors.
Errors & Varieties
Draped Bust Half Cent
An early U.S. copper coin depicting a draped bust of Liberty, struck for everyday small change in the first decade of the 19th century.
United States
1914-D Lincoln Wheat Cent
A famous key-date Lincoln cent struck at the Denver Mint in 1914 in a comparatively low quantity, making it one of the most sought-after dates in the series.
United States
1931-S Lincoln Wheat Cent
A Great Depression-era key date with a comparatively low mintage from the San Francisco Mint, long recognized as one of the more important dates in the Lincoln Wheat cent series.
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
Nova Eborac Copper
A 1787-dated copper bearing the Latin name for New York, struck privately after the state failed to authorize its own copper coinage contract during the chaotic Confederation-era coin shortage.
United States
1974 Aluminum Cent
An extremely rare experimental pattern struck in aluminum as a potential replacement for the copper cent amid rising metal costs, almost none of which were legally released to the public.
Errors & Varieties
1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent
The most famous key date in the Lincoln cent series, struck only briefly at the San Francisco Mint with designer Victor D. Brenner's initials on the reverse.
United States
Constantine CONSTANTINOPOLIS Commemorative
A small bronze commemorative celebrating the founding of Constantinople, showing Victory standing on a ship's prow on the reverse.
Ancient
1955 Doubled Die Lincoln Cent
A famous doubled die error showing strong, plainly visible doubling on the date and lettering of the obverse, among the most recognizable die varieties in U.S. coinage.
Errors & Varieties
Australian Holey Dollar and Dump
In 1813, colonial authorities in New South Wales punched the centers out of Spanish silver dollars to create two coins from one, easing a severe coin shortage while preventing the silver from leaving the colony.
Africa & Oceania
Niue Disney Silver Coins
Officially licensed Disney-themed silver coins issued in the name of Niue, featuring classic characters, princesses, and franchises like Star Wars and Marvel through Disney's licensing.
Commemorative
1949 Newfoundland Silver Dollar (Matthew ship)
A commemorative Canadian silver dollar marking Newfoundland's entry into Confederation in 1949, its reverse depicting John Cabot's ship the Matthew.
Canadian
Halfpenny
A small British bronze coin worth half a penny, best known in its twentieth-century form featuring Sir Francis Drake's ship the Golden Hind on the reverse.
British
Mexican 8 Reales Pillar Dollar
Minted in colonial Mexico City from 1732 to the early 1770s, the pillar dollar's crowned globes and Pillars of Hercules design made it one of the most widely trusted silver trade coins in the world.
Latin American
Colombia 8 Reales
Silver 8 reales struck first under Spanish colonial rule in New Granada and later, after independence, in the name of the new Colombian republic.
Latin American
Colombian 8 Escudos Gold (Popayán)
A large colonial gold doubloon struck at the historic Popayán mint in present-day Colombia, prized by collectors as one of the classic Spanish colonial gold coins of South America.
Latin American
Third Farthing
An extremely small denomination worth one-twelfth of a penny, struck mainly to serve the currency needs of the British colony of Malta across the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
British
1895-O Barber Dime
The key date of the Barber dime series, struck in unusually small numbers at the New Orleans Mint and scarce in every grade of preservation.
United States
Long Island Tercentenary Half Dollar
A 1936 U.S. commemorative half dollar marking 300 years since the first European settlement on Long Island, New York.
Commemorative
Anglo-Saxon Silver Sceat
Small, thick early Anglo-Saxon silver coin with enigmatic pagan and Christian imagery, the direct forerunner of the later English penny.
British