Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Spanish Colonial 4 Reales
A large silver colonial coin worth half a Spanish dollar, struck for Spain's American empire and bearing the crowned Spanish royal arms.
Colonial
Antoninianus
Roman imperial coin of the crisis era, marked by a radiate (spiked) crown on the emperor's head; struck in debased silver-and-copper billon, c. 250-270 AD.
Ancient Coins
10 Para
Small Ottoman silver 10 Para dated AH 1280 (1863-1864), with the sultan's calligraphic tughra on one side and an ornamental Arabic-script inscription on the other.
Early Modern
Dirham of Samura ibn Jundab
An Arab-Sassanian silver dirham struck in the name of the early governor Samura ibn Jundab, keeping the Persian Shah bust and fire-altar design with added Arabic.
Islamic (Medieval)
Roanoke Island Half Dollar
A 1937 U.S. silver half dollar marking 350 years since the Roanoke Island colony and the birth of Virginia Dare, with Sir Walter Raleigh and a sailing ship.
Classic Commemorative
Arkansas Centennial Half Dollar (Robinson)
A 1936 U.S. silver commemorative half dollar pairing a portrait of Senator Joseph T. Robinson with the Arkansas Centennial eagle; a scarce one-year Philadelphia issue.
Classic Commemorative
Hawaii State Quarter
The 2008 Hawaii State Quarter, final coin in the 50 State Quarters series, showing King Kamehameha I reaching over the islands.
Quarter
Syracuse Dekadrachm
Large silver dekadrachm of Syracuse, c. 405-380 BC, showing a racing quadriga crowned by Victory and a head of the nymph Arethusa with flowing hair.
Ancient
Denarius of M. Sanquinius
A silver denarius struck at Rome in 17 BC by the moneyer M. Sanquinius under Augustus, tied to the Secular Games, with a male portrait and a standing herald.
Ancient
Denarius of Cn. Pompeius Magnus
Silver Roman Republican denarius of the Pompeian party (46–45 BC), with a bearded portrait of Pompey the Great and a galley reverse reading PRO COS.
Ancient
Tymf
A debased Polish silver coin of 1663 tariffed at 30 groszy, famous for a Latin motto declaring the state's safety worth more than the metal.
Early Modern
Speciedaler
Large early-modern Norwegian silver crown of the Dano-Norwegian kingdom, showing a crowned royal bust and the Norwegian lion shield, dated 1628.
Early Modern
Prussian Taler
A large silver taler of the Kingdom of Prussia showing the crowned profile of Frederick II and a heraldic coat of arms, struck through the mid-to-late 1700s.
German States
Hanover 1/6 Thaler
A German States silver 1/6 Thaler of Hanover (Brunswick-Luneburg) dated 1688, showing the leaping Saxon Steed and a fractional-denomination reverse.
German States
French Cérès 5 Francs
A large silver French 5 francs showing the head of Cérès, goddess of the harvest, wearing a liberty cap, with the republican motto LIBERTÉ ÉGALITÉ FRATERNITÉ.
Circulation
Bavaria 3 Mark
A silver 3 Mark tied to Bavaria, pairing the crowned Bavarian shield with its rampant lion against a German imperial eagle, dated 1925.
Circulation
Denier of Charlemagne
A hand-struck silver denier of Charlemagne, king of the Franks: a central cross ringed by the CARLVS REX FR legend, with a royal monogram design on the reverse.
Medieval
Victoria Maundy Twopence
A tiny sterling-silver ceremonial coin from a Royal Maundy set. This 1845 example shows Victoria's young head and a crowned 2 in a wreath.
British Isles
Milled Sixpence of Elizabeth I
An early machine-struck English silver sixpence of Elizabeth I, showing her crowned draped bust with a rose and the royal shield above a date.
Milled
California Diamond Jubilee Half Dollar
A 1925 U.S. silver commemorative half dollar marking California's 75th year of statehood, designed by Jo Mora with a gold miner and a grizzly bear.
Classic Commemorative
Franklin Half Dollar
U.S. 90% silver fifty-cent piece struck 1948–1963, with Benjamin Franklin's profile and a Liberty Bell reverse flanked by a small eagle.
Half Dollar
Flowing Hair Half Dollar
The first U.S. half dollar, struck 1794–1795 in silver, with a flowing-hair Liberty facing right and a small eagle within a wreath on the reverse.
Half Dollar
Seated Liberty Half Dime with Arrows
A tiny silver five-cent piece: Liberty seated with a shield, small arrows flanking the date to mark a reduced weight, over a wreath reverse.
Half Dime
Massachusetts Shilling (1 Shilling 6 Pence)
A colonial-era Massachusetts silver piece valued at one shilling and sixpence, joining a pine-tree obverse with a rising-sun reverse and the date 1779.
Colonial