Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Theodosius I Solidus
A gold solidus of Theodosius I, the last emperor to rule a united Roman Empire and the ruler who made Nicene Christianity the state religion.
Ancient
Athenian Owl Tetradrachm
Classical Athenian silver coin depicting Athena and her sacred owl, one of the most recognizable and widely circulated coinages of the ancient Mediterranean world.
Ancient
Laurel
A gold twenty-shilling coin issued from 1619, named for its laureate royal portrait styled after Roman emperors, replacing the earlier Unite as James I's principal gold denomination.
British
Somalian Silver Elephant (African Wildlife)
An annually redesigned silver bullion coin featuring an African elephant, issued in the name of Somalia but struck at a German state mint since 2004.
Africa & Oceania
Spanish 4 Reales
A mid-value denomination of Spain's traditional real-based coinage, struck for centuries in both Spain and its American colonies.
European
Aegina Sea Turtle Stater
One of the earliest widely circulated Greek silver coins, struck by the island city-state of Aegina, featuring a sea turtle and later a land tortoise, and nicknamed simply 'turtles' by ancient traders.
Ancient
Celtic Gold Stater
Iron Age gold coins struck by Celtic tribes across Gaul and Britain, evolving from close imitations of Macedonian staters into strikingly abstract, stylized designs.
Ancient
Seljuk Copper Fals
Base-metal copper coin of everyday commerce in the Seljuk Turkish world, notable for unusually rich figural imagery such as lions, suns, and double-headed eagles.
Asian
German Empire 20 Mark Gold (Wilhelm II)
The standard gold coin of the German Empire under Kaiser Wilhelm II, struck at multiple state mints and widely collected for its imperial portrait and eagle reverse.
European
Spanish Colonial Gold Escudo (Doubloon)
The gold coinage of the Spanish American colonies, popularly nicknamed the doubloon, struck in denominations up to 8 escudos and famous from pirate and shipwreck lore.
Latin American
South African Republic Burgers Pond
The first coin struck for an independent South African state, issued in 1874 under President Thomas Burgers of the Transvaal, famous for its 'coarse beard' and 'fine beard' portrait varieties.
Africa & Oceania
Virginia Halfpenny
An official royal copper coinage struck in London specifically for the Colony of Virginia, showing King George III, whose distribution was disrupted by the approaching American Revolution.
United States
Eukratides I Gold Stater (Baktria)
A gold stater of Eukratides I, the powerful Greco-Bactrian king best known for issuing the largest gold coin surviving from antiquity, depicting the divine twins Dioskouroi on horseback.
Ancient
Portuguese Escudo
Portugal's national currency unit from the 1911 decimal reform, following the fall of the monarchy, until the Euro replaced it in the early 2000s.
European
Japanese Wado Kaichin
Japan's earliest officially minted coin, cast in 708 AD in imitation of Tang Chinese cash, with a round shape and square center hole.
Asian
Spanish Gold Escudo (Doubloon)
The gold denomination of the Spanish Empire, whose larger multiples became famous as "doubloons," struck both in Spain and across its American colonial mints for centuries.
European
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
1911 Canadian Silver Dollar (Pattern)
An extraordinarily rare 1911 trial striking exploring a Canadian silver dollar decades before the denomination was actually introduced, with only a handful of specimens known.
Canadian
Iranian Rial
Iran's official currency unit since 1932, replacing the earlier qiran/kran, struck across the Pahlavi monarchy and the Islamic Republic in changing metals and designs.
Asian
Ottoman Silver Akce
A tiny silver coin that served as the basic everyday currency unit of the Ottoman Empire for centuries, gradually shrinking in size and silver content as inflation took hold.
World
Chinese Silver Panda
China's annual silver bullion coin, issued since 1983 with a new panda design nearly every year, popular with both silver stackers and dedicated Panda date-set collectors.
Bullion
Spanish-Philippine 8 Reales Counterstamped Dollar
Spanish colonial 8 reales silver dollar officially countermarked for circulation in the Philippines, a hybrid of Spanish American and Philippine monetary history.
Asian
Gold Panda (China)
China's flagship gold bullion coin, issued since 1982 with a different panda design nearly every year, making the series a favorite among both bullion buyers and date-and-design collectors.
Bullion
Lydian Croeseid (Croesus Stater)
One of history's earliest bimetallic coinages, struck under the legendary King Croesus of Lydia, featuring the confronting foreparts of a lion and a bull.
Ancient