Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Spirit of ANZAC Commemorative 50 Cents
A 2015 Australian silver-finish 50-cent commemorative marking the centenary of ANZAC, with soldier imagery and 1915-2015 dating.
Commemoratives
Panama-Pacific Exposition $50 (Octagonal)
An eight-sided $50 gold commemorative struck for San Francisco's 1915 world's fair, showing Minerva and her owl — the largest U.S. coin of its era.
Classic Commemorative
Kennedy Half Dollar 50th Anniversary High Relief
U.S. 90% silver half dollar issued in 2014 for the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy design, with a restored high-relief JFK portrait.
Half Dollar
Philip and Mary Shilling
Hammered silver shilling of Philip II of Spain and Mary I (1554-1558), showing their paired royal busts and a crowned quartered shield of arms.
Hammered
8 Escudos (Carolus)
The largest Spanish gold coin of the age, the 8 Escudos or doubloon, struck under the Habsburg Carolus rulers with the crowned quartered royal arms.
Early Modern
20 Reales (Isabel II)
Crown-sized Spanish silver 20 Reales of Queen Isabel II, with her crowned right-facing profile and a crowned pillared shield, dated 1854.
Modern
20 Lei
Romania's first gold coin, the 1870 20 Lei of Prince Carol I, pairing his left-facing portrait with the national coat of arms.
Modern
Counterstamped 2 Reales
A Spanish silver 2 reales dated 1803 that was later punched with a WR-and-crown counterstamp, giving it a second, borrowed life as legal tender.
Colonial
Brutus & Plaetorius Denarius
The silver EID MAR denarius: M. Junius Brutus on the obverse, a Phrygian cap between two daggers and EID MAR on the reverse, struck 42 BC.
Ancient
Counterstamped 8 Reales
A Charles IV silver 8 reales later punched with counterstamps and pierced with a central hole, layering a second life onto the classic Spanish dollar.
Colonial
Kennedy Half Dollar
U.S. fifty-cent piece introduced in 1964 to honor President John F. Kennedy; the first-year 1964 coins were struck in 90% silver.
United States
Minnesota State Quarter
2005 U.S. 25-cent coin in the 50 State Quarters series, showing Minnesota's outline, a common loon, anglers in a boat, and pines above 1858.
Quarter
Real (Medieval)
A medieval Spanish silver real carrying the heraldic arms of the Iberian kingdoms — a lion for León paired with a castle or cross design.
Medieval
Draped Bust Half Dollar
Early U.S. silver fifty-cent piece of 1796–1807. The pictured 1796 Small Eagle with 15 stars is among the rarest of all American coins.
Half Dollar
Texas Centennial Half Dollar
A U.S. silver commemorative half dollar (1934–1938) marking a century of Texas independence, with a spread-winged eagle over a large star on the obverse.
Classic Commemorative
Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Half Dollar
A 1924 U.S. silver commemorative half dollar marking 300 years of Huguenot and Walloon settlement in America, with two settler profiles and a sailing ship.
Classic Commemorative
20 Kroner
Danish aluminum-bronze 20 Kroner of 1990 honoring Queen Margrethe II, with a crown over a marguerite daisy and the dates 1940 and 1990.
Modern
British East Africa Half Shilling
A small low-fineness silver coin of British East Africa bearing King George VI; the half shilling equalled fifty cents in the East African system.
World
Denarius of Cassius Longinus
Silver denarius struck in 42 BC by Gaius Cassius Longinus, one of Caesar's assassins, to pay his legions before the Battle of Philippi.
Ancient
Australian Fifty Cents
Australia's 50 cent coin bearing the national coat of arms. The 1966 round issue shown here was struck in silver; later 12-sided coins are cupronickel.
Australian
Escudo (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 Modern
Bank of England Dollar
A George III silver dollar issued by the Bank of England in 1804, struck over Spanish eight-reales coins, with a laureate bust and a crowned shield reverse.
Milled
American Plantations Token
A 1688 tin token struck under James II for England's American colonies, valued at 1/24 of a Spanish real — the first regal-authorized coinage for British America.
Colonial
Holey Dollar
Australia's first struck coin: a Spanish silver dollar with its centre punched out, counterstamped NEW SOUTH WALES 1813 and revalued at five shillings.
Australian