Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Irish Gun Money Shilling
A base-metal Irish emergency shilling struck for James II in 1689-1690, with his laureate bust and a crowned reverse dated by month, here October 1689.
Emergency Coinage
Belgian Congo 5 Francs (Copper)
A copper 5 Francs piece dated 1887 with a radiant star obverse and a crowned heraldic reverse reading CONGO BELGE, widely regarded as a fantasy or novelty type.
World
Kennedy Half Dollar Bicentennial
U.S. fifty-cent piece issued for the 1976 Bicentennial, pairing the Kennedy portrait with a Liberty Bell reverse and the dual date 1776-1976.
Half Dollar
2 Rigsdaler (Gold)
A gold striking of Denmark's 1863 2 rigsdaler, with the right-facing bust of Christian IX and the crowned royal arms — a rare early piece of his reign.
European
12 Roubles (Nicholas I)
A rare Imperial Russian platinum 12 Roubles of Nicholas I, showing the crowned double-headed eagle and a Cyrillic '12 РУБЛЕЙ' value in Ural platinum.
Modern
20 Drachmai
Greece's 1884 gold 20 Drachmai of King George I: a small Latin Monetary Union gold coin with the king's portrait and the crowned royal arms.
Modern
Gold Sovereign
The British gold sovereign: a one-pound gold coin. This 1817 George III example shows a laureate bust and a crowned heraldic shield of the royal arms.
World
Half Guinea of Anne
An English milled gold half guinea of Queen Anne, showing her left-facing bust and a crowned cruciform reverse of shields with fleurs-de-lis.
Milled
Gold Guinea
English gold coin of the Guinea denomination; the example shown bears the right-facing bust of Charles II with a crowned cruciform shield reverse dated 1668.
World Coins
East Africa Protectorate 1 Cent
A small holed one-cent coin of the British East Africa Protectorate, struck in base metal with a crowned, portrait-free design around a central hole.
World
India 50 Paise
A George VI half-rupee of British India dated 1946 — the pale nickel-brass ancestor of the modern 50 paise, with a crowned royal bust and a rampant lion reverse.
Modern India
Colombia 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.
Colonial
Bhutan 10 Sengtrum
A 1979 cupro-nickel minor coin of the Kingdom of Bhutan, worth one-tenth of a ngultrum, with the national arms on one face and an ornamental gateway on the other.
Himalayan
1 Krona (Gold)
A gold 1 krona of Sweden dated 1906, bearing the left-facing portrait of King Oscar II and the Swedish royal coat of arms with lions and three crowns.
Modern
British Third Farthing
A tiny 1844 Victoria copper coin: young left-facing queen's bust obverse, crowned value reverse. One of Britain's smallest denominations, struck for Malta.
Circulation
Papua New Guinea 5 Kina
Papua New Guinea's 1975 five-kina coin: Queen Elizabeth II in profile on the obverse, a bird-of-paradise with the K5 denomination on the reverse.
Circulation
Ultra High Relief Double Eagle
Augustus Saint-Gaudens' 1907 $20 gold pattern struck in sculptural ultra high relief, with striding Liberty and a soaring eagle.
Gold Type Coin
Two Guineas of George II
A large milled gold two-guinea piece of George II, with his left-facing laureate head and a crowned garnished shield of the royal arms; the pictured coin is dated 1738.
Milled
British India One Pice
A small holed copper-bronze One Pice of British India under George VI, dated 1945, its obverse crowned and lettered INDIA and PICE around a central hole.
British India
Erstein Notgeld 50 Pfennigs
A 1917 German emergency-money token for 50 Pfennigs from Erstein in Alsace, with the town coat of arms on the obverse and a large 50 on the reverse.
Token/notgeld
Erstein Notgeld 5 Pfennigs
A World War I emergency small-change coin issued by the town of Erstein in 1917, with the civic coat of arms on one side and a large 5 on the other.
Token/notgeld
Walking Liberty Half Dollar
A classic U.S. silver half dollar struck 1916–1947, showing Liberty striding toward the sunrise on the obverse and a perched eagle on the reverse.
Half Dollar
Hamburg 32 Schilling
A 1800 silver 32 Schilling of the Free City of Hamburg, with the city coat of arms and a 'HAMBURGER COURANT' reverse.
German States
French Constitutional Ecu
A large 1792 French silver ecu of the constitutional monarchy, with a bust of Louis XVI and an allegorical figure of Liberty with fasces.
Revolutionary