Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Gold Tetradrachm of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II
Ptolemaic gold of Egypt, c. 260-240 BC, with paired busts of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II on one side and Ptolemy I and Berenike I on the other.
AncientAncient Sicilian Silver Coin
A silver coin of ancient Greek Sicily, showing a female goddess or nymph head on one face and a two-horse chariot (biga) on the other.
AncientColombia 8 Escudos (Base Metal)
A base-metal (copper-alloy) piece styled after the colonial Colombian 8 escudos gold onza, with a Charles III profile and crowned heraldic arms dated 1760.
ColonialLibya 1 Dinar (Counterfeit)
A brass coin imitating Libyan 1 Dinar coinage, carrying Arabic legends and geometric ornament but identified as a counterfeit or non-official replica.
WorldMughal Square Rupee Token
A square silver-colored token copying a Mughal square rupee, with Persian and Islamic inscriptions and an AH 988 date, produced as a later reproduction.
TokenEscudo (Joanna and Charles V, contemporary copy)
A contemporary gilded copper-alloy copy imitating a Spanish gold escudo of Joanna and Charles V, made to pass as the real Habsburg gold coin.
Early Modern50 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.
ModernCanadian Silver Dollar
Canada's first circulating silver dollar, the 1935 Voyageur type, showing George V and a canoe with paddlers on the reverse.
Canadian & ProvincialBritish 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 IslesBuyid 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 IslamicOttoman 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.
WorldAlmohad Silver Dirham
A distinctive square silver coin of the Almohad Caliphate, covered on both faces with geometric Arabic religious inscriptions.
WorldSilver Rupee of Ahmadabad
Hand-struck Mughal silver rupee of Emperor Akbar from the Ahmadabad mint in Gujarat, dated Regnal Year 47.
Mughal IndiaIndian Silver Coin
A silver coin of British India bearing Persian/Urdu calligraphy and a mint mark, in the Mughal-derived inscriptional style of Company-era coinage.
British India1 Yen (Silver)
An early Meiji silver 1 Yen struck in Meiji 3 (1870), showing a coiled dragon with a radiant sun on one side and a wreathed imperial crest on the other.
CirculationMacao Silver Coin (1974)
A 1974 Macau silver coin marking the Macau-Taipa Bridge: a spanning bridge with a Chinese junk below, ringed by REPUBLICA PORTUGUESA and PONTE MACAU-TAIPA.
Circulation1 Gulden (Silver)
Silver 1 Gulden of the Free City of Danzig, dated 1923, carrying the city's coat of arms and its own short-lived currency between the World Wars.
ModernFrench Silver Franc
A small Third Republic silver 1-franc coin with an allegorical Marianne head and a REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE reverse; the pictured piece is dated 1899.
WorldNajd Silver Coin
Silver trade coin catalogued to Najd, central Arabia, bearing a left-facing Victoria Queen bust and an 1862 date in the British India rupee style.
ArabiaSomalia Silver Leopard
One-ounce fine-silver bullion coin from Somalia's African Wildlife series, showing a prowling leopard on the obverse; this example is dated 2022.
BullionAbbasid Silver Dirham
A thin, broad Islamic silver coin of the Abbasid Caliphate, covered edge to edge with concentric Kufic Arabic inscriptions and dated AH 132 (AD 749–750).
IslamicAlexander the Great Silver Drachm
Silver drachm in the name of Alexander the Great, with the head of young Herakles in a lion skin and Zeus enthroned on the reverse.
AncientGustav I Silver Coin
Early-Renaissance Swedish silver of Gustav I Vasa (r. 1523–1560), pairing a crowned armored royal bust with a crowned heraldic lion.
MedievalMedieval Silver Cut Farthing
A quarter of a medieval silver penny, physically cut along the reverse cross to make small change before round farthings became common.
British Isles