Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Bolivia 8 Soles Silver
An early Bolivian republican silver coin denominated in soles, struck at Potosí in the decades following independence before the boliviano currency system replaced it.
Latin American
1921 Fifty Cents (King of Canadian Coins)
Canada's most famous rarity, the 1921 fifty-cent piece survives in only a small number of known examples after most of its mintage was melted, earning it the nickname King of Canadian Coins.
Canadian
South African Sixpence (Union)
Small silver sixpence of the Union of South Africa, known for its protea flower reverse, circulated from the 1920s through the transition to decimal currency.
Africa & Oceania
Fiji Silver Taku
A Fijian bullion coin whose denomination, the Taku, references traditional Fijian whale-tooth currency, produced by the New Zealand Mint since 2012.
Africa & Oceania
Japanese Bu / Ichibu-gin (silver bar coin)
Rectangular silver bar-shaped coin used as fixed-value currency in Tokugawa Japan, valued as a fraction of the gold ryo rather than by weight.
Asian
Korean 5 Yang Silver Dollar (1892)
Korea's first Western-style, dollar-sized silver coin, struck in 1892 with a coiled dragon design as part of King Gojong's currency modernization.
Asian
Belgian Franc
Belgium's national currency from independence in 1830 through the Latin Monetary Union era and into the Euro age, minted in both French and Dutch legends.
European
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
British Silver Landmarks of Britain
A Royal Mint silver bullion series celebrating famous British landmarks, offering collectors a UK-themed alternative to the flagship Britannia coin.
Bullion
New Zealand Lord of the Rings Coins (2003)
New Zealand issued legal-tender coins featuring characters and scenes from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy, celebrating the films' production in the country with both a circulating dollar and premium collector coins.
Commemorative
Korean 1 Yang Silver (Joseon/Great Han Empire)
Silver 1 Yang coin from Korea's late Joseon currency reform of the 1890s, part of the kingdom's first modern, machine-struck decimal coinage.
Asian
Mughal Silver Rupee (Akbar)
A silver rupee struck under Emperor Akbar, who standardized the denomination's weight and calligraphic design, establishing a coin type that shaped Indian currency for centuries.
Asian
Chervonets (Soviet Gold)
A Soviet gold coin depicting a peasant sower, originally struck in 1923 to stabilize the new Soviet currency and later restruck for decades as a bullion and trade coin.
European
Celtic Gold Stater of the Parisii
A gold stater struck by the Parisii, the Gallic tribe that gave its name to Paris, showing highly abstracted, stylized versions of Greek prototype designs.
Ancient
Thailand (Siam) Silver Baht 'Bullet Money' (Pod Duang)
Distinctive bent-bar silver currency used in Siam for centuries, hand-formed into a bullet-like shape and stamped with royal marks in place of a flat coin design.
Asian
Greek Drachma
The modern national currency of Greece from shortly after independence until the adoption of the euro, reviving the name of the ancient Greek unit and featuring classical and historical imagery.
European
Chinese Ban Liang Cash
China's first standardized round coin with a square center hole, introduced under Qin Shi Huang to unify currency across the newly consolidated Chinese empire.
Ancient
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
Bahraini Dinar
Modern decimal currency of Bahrain, introduced in 1965 to replace the Gulf Rupee, with the dinar divided into 1,000 fils.
Asian
Chinese Spade Money (Bu Coin)
An early Chinese bronze currency shaped like a miniature farming spade, used across several competing Zhou-era states before round coinage became standardized.
Asian
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
Norwegian Speciedaler
Norway's principal silver coin from the establishment of its independent currency in 1816 until the krone reform of the 1870s.
European
Kroisos (Croeseid) Gold Stater of Lydia
A pure gold stater struck under King Croesus of Lydia, part of history's first coinage issued in separate fixed-purity gold and silver denominations.
Ancient
Ecuador Sucre Silver
Ecuador's historic silver one-sucre coin, named after independence hero Antonio Jose de Sucre, circulated for decades before Ecuador's currency was eventually replaced by the US dollar.
Latin American