Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Daoguang Tongbao
A round Chinese bronze cash coin with a square center hole, cast under the Qing emperor Daoguang; this example bears the Bao Quan mint mark.
Cash Coin
Mercury Dime
U.S. silver ten-cent coin struck 1916–1945, showing a winged-cap Liberty head on the obverse and a fasces with an olive branch on the reverse.
Dime
Washington Quarter
U.S. twenty-five-cent coin introduced in 1932, showing George Washington's profile and an eagle reverse; early issues struck in 90% silver.
Quarter
Seated Liberty Dime with Arrows
A silver Seated Liberty dime with small arrows flanking the date, marking the 1853 weight reduction; struck 1853–1855, with the pictured coin dated 1853.
Dime
Solidus of Valentinian I
The gold solidus of Valentinian I (AD 364-375), a pure-gold coin bearing his pearl-diademed profile that anchored the late Roman monetary system.
Ancient
Roman Centenionalis
A small fourth-century Roman bronze coin, part of the reformed low-value currency struck across the empire's mints during a period of frequent monetary change.
Ancient
Medieval Penny
England's standard medieval coin: a small hammered silver penny with a crowned royal head on one side and a cross on the other, struck by hand across many reigns.
Medieval Coins
Brunei Golden Jubilee 50 Cents
A copper-nickel 50-cent coin from Brunei's 2017 Golden Jubilee, showing a palm-leaf design with Arabic text and a reverse with the value and a floral motif.
Southeast Asia
Australian Threepence
Australia's small pre-decimal silver threepence (3d), the country's tiniest coin, struck 1910-1964. The example shown carries a George V portrait.
Australian
Charles I Unite
A large hammered gold coin of Charles I worth twenty shillings, showing his crowned profile and a crowned quartered shield of lions and fleur-de-lis.
Hammered
Abbasid 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).
Islamic
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
Maundy Three Pence
A tiny sterling-silver threepence tied to Britain's Royal Maundy tradition; the photographed 1687 coin shows James II's bust and a crowned Roman numeral III.
Maundy
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
Aureus of Augustus
Roman imperial gold coin bearing the bare head of Augustus, first emperor of Rome, struck during his reign from 27 BC to 14 AD.
Ancient Coins
Anglo-Saxon Styca
A tiny base-metal coin of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, struck in the 8th-9th century with a head and inscription on one side and a cross on the other.
Medieval Coins
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
Wu Zhu Cash
A round Han-dynasty bronze cash coin with a central square hole and two seal-script characters, Wu Zhu, naming its weight of five zhu.
Cash Coin
Qian Feng Quan Bao
A round bronze Tang cash coin with a square center hole, cast under Emperor Gaozong in the short-lived Qianfeng era and worth ten ordinary cash.
Cash Coin
Sesquicentennial of American Independence Quarter Eagle
A 1926 U.S. commemorative $2.50 gold coin marking 150 years of American independence, with Liberty holding a torch and scroll and Independence Hall on the reverse.
Classic Commemorative
Gold Dinar of Alp Arslan
A hand-struck Islamic gold coin of the Great Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan, covered in concentric Arabic inscriptions naming the ruler and caliph, AH 455–465.
Islamic
Gold Dinar of Baybars I
A hand-struck gold coin of the Mamluk sultan Baybars I, covered on both faces with Arabic calligraphy naming the ruler and struck in Egypt between 1260 and 1277 CE.
Islamic
Liberty Head Quarter Eagle
U.S. $2.50 gold coin struck 1840–1907, with a coronet-crowned Liberty head obverse and a shield-breasted eagle reverse marked "2½ D."
Quarter Eagle
Roosevelt Dime
The circulating U.S. ten-cent coin honoring Franklin D. Roosevelt, shown here as a 1965 copper-nickel clad issue with a torch, olive, and oak reverse.
Dime