Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Austrian Gold Philharmonic
Austria's popular gold bullion coin honoring the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring the Musikverein's Great Organ and an array of orchestral instruments.
Bullion
1793 Wreath Cent
The second cent design of 1793, replacing the controversial Chain cent with a wreath reverse, and one of three distinct cent types struck that founding year.
United States
Caligula Sestertius
A large brass sestertius of the notorious emperor Caligula, a scarce and historically fascinating coin due to his short, controversial reign and later condemnation.
Ancient
1982 Copper/Zinc Transition Lincoln Cent
The single year the Lincoln cent's composition changed mid-year from 95% copper bronze to copper-plated zinc, producing seven recognized date, mint, and metal varieties.
Errors & Varieties
2004-D Wisconsin Extra Leaf High Quarter
The 'high leaf' variant of the famous Wisconsin quarter extra-leaf variety, showing the anomalous extra corn leaf pointing upward and outward rather than low near the cheese wheel.
Errors & Varieties
Austrian 4 Ducat Gold
The Austrian 4 Ducat is a large, high-purity gold coin historically used for trade and hoarding, best known today through the officially restruck 1915-dated pieces still produced for the bullion market.
European
Testoon
The earliest English coin to carry a realistic royal portrait, introduced under Henry VII around 1487 as the forerunner of the shilling, later continued and debased under Henry VIII.
British
Constantius I Chlorus Follis
Reform-era bronze follis of Constantius I Chlorus, Caesar and later Augustus of the western Tetrarchy, remembered chiefly as the father of Constantine the Great.
Ancient
British India Gold Mohur (East India Company)
High-value gold coin issued by the East India Company and later the British Crown in India, used for major transactions and prized today for its gold content and classic portraiture.
Asian
Galerius Follis
Reform-era bronze follis of Galerius, Caesar and later Augustus of the eastern Tetrarchy, remembered for early persecution of Christians and his later Edict of Toleration issued just before his death.
Ancient
Grant Memorial Half Dollar
A 1922 U.S. commemorative half dollar honoring the 100th anniversary of Ulysses S. Grant's birth, famous for a rare 'star' variety.
Commemorative
Una and the Lion Five Pound
A legendary 1839 gold proof depicting young Queen Victoria as Una leading a lion, widely considered one of the most beautiful coins ever struck and a benchmark of Victorian coin art.
British
Maximian Follis
Large bronze follis of Maximian, co-Augustus with Diocletian who ruled the western half of the empire as part of the Tetrarchy and shared the same reformed coinage design.
Ancient
Constantine CONSTANTINOPOLIS Commemorative
A small bronze commemorative celebrating the founding of Constantinople, showing Victory standing on a ship's prow on the reverse.
Ancient
Stone Mountain Memorial Half Dollar
A 1925 commemorative half dollar depicting Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson on horseback, issued to fund the massive Stone Mountain carving in Georgia.
Commemorative
1943 Steel Cent
A one-year-only zinc-coated steel cent struck to conserve copper for World War II ammunition and equipment production, easily recognized by its silvery color.
United States
1932-D Washington Quarter
The key date of the Washington quarter series, struck in Denver during the depths of the Great Depression with a very low mintage.
United States
1932-S Washington Quarter
One of the two key dates of the Washington quarter series, struck at San Francisco in the design's debut year with a very limited mintage.
United States
Lydian Lion Trite (Electrum)
An early electrum coin from the Kingdom of Lydia bearing a roaring lion's head, among the very earliest coins struck anywhere in the world.
Ancient
1875-CC Twenty-Cent Piece
A Carson City strike of the short-lived US twenty-cent piece, valued both for its unusual denomination and its Wild West mint origin.
United States
2004 Wisconsin State Quarter Extra Leaf
A famous modern variety of the 2004 Wisconsin state quarter showing an unexplained extra leaf on the corn cob, found in both 'low leaf' and 'high leaf' forms.
Errors & Varieties
1950-D/S Washington Quarter Overmintmark
A famous mid-century mintmark error where a Denver quarter die was first punched with an S mintmark and then re-punched with a D, leaving traces of both letters visible.
Errors & Varieties
1793 Chain Cent
The very first cent struck for circulation by the U.S. Mint, dated 1793, famous for its short-lived and controversial 15-link chain reverse.
United States
Colombian 8 Escudos Gold (Popayán)
A large colonial gold doubloon struck at the historic Popayán mint in present-day Colombia, prized by collectors as one of the classic Spanish colonial gold coins of South America.
Latin American