Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Hanover-Luneburg 1.5 Thaler
A large silver 1.5 Thaler of Brunswick-Luneburg (Hanover), dated 1681, with a busy multi-shield heraldic design and the motto SOL BONA QUE HONESTA.
German States
Contemporary Forgery of Louis XVI Ecu
A period-style counterfeit imitating a Louis XVI silver ecu: a copied royal portrait obverse and a copied standing-figure reverse dated about 1792.
Forgery
Halfcrown of William III
A silver two-shilling-and-sixpence coin of William III showing his laureate profile facing right and crowned cruciform shields of arms, dated 1696.
Milled
Israel Half Lira (25th Anniversary)
A silver Israeli half lira dated 1973, the year the young state marked 25 years of independence, carrying a menorah-and-sprigs emblem and a Hebrew value.
World
Jefferson Nickel
U.S. five-cent piece introduced in 1938, showing Thomas Jefferson on the obverse and his Monticello home on the reverse. 1942–1945 issues are 35% silver.
Nickel Five Cent
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
Shilling of Charles I
A hammered silver English shilling of King Charles I, showing his crowned left-facing profile with the value mark XII and a quartered royal shield.
World Coins
Spanish Colonial Cob 8 Reales
A hand-struck silver cob 8 reales of Spain's American colonies—the irregular, hammered “piece of eight” bearing the crowned Habsburg arms and Pillars of Hercules.
Cob Coinage
Follis of Constantius Chlorus
Large silvered-bronze follis of Constantius I (Chlorus), the Tetrarchic emperor and father of Constantine, showing his laureate portrait facing right.
Ancient
Thebes Stater
Silver stater of Thebes with the Boeotian shield and a bearded head of Dionysos, struck as federal coinage of the Boeotian League, c. 395-338 BC.
Ancient
Rhodes Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm of the island city of Rhodes, 4th century BC, with the radiate head of the sun-god Helios and a rose, the city's civic emblem.
Ancient
Lysimachos Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm of Lysimachos of Thrace, c. 297-282 BC, showing the deified head of Alexander the Great and Athena seated with a shield and spear.
Ancient
Antoninianus of Gordian III
Silver double-denarius of the young emperor Gordian III (238-244 AD), marked by his radiate crown and a standing deity on the reverse.
Ancient
Grosz Miejski
A silver city grosz struck at Elbląg in 1533, pairing the town's crowned coat of arms with an eagle and civic inscriptions under the Polish crown.
Early Modern
2 Lire
Silver 2 Lire of the Papal States struck under Pope Pius IX, part of the Italian lira system adopted by Rome in the 1860s.
Modern
Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach 5 Mark Commemorative
An 1908 German Empire 5 Mark silver commemorative of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach marking the University of Jena's jubilee, with the founder's capped portrait.
Commemorative
German 2 Reichsmark (Hindenburg)
Third Reich silver 2 Reichsmark showing an eagle over a swastika shield and, on the other side, Paul von Hindenburg with the value and date.
Circulation
Brunswick 1/3 Thaler
A 1678 silver 1/3 thaler of the Duchy of Brunswick, showing the leaping Saxon steed on the obverse and a standing saintly figure with a cross on the reverse.
German States
South Africa 5 Shillings
A large 1952 South African silver crown marking Cape Town's 300th anniversary, with King George VI and a sailing-ship reverse.
Circulation
Charles II Half Crown
A milled silver half crown of Charles II, showing his laureate bust facing right and crowned royal-arms shields on the reverse.
Milled
Philippines 20 Centavos
A small wartime silver 20 centavos of the Commonwealth-era Philippines: a standing Liberty figure and Mayon volcano, with an eagle over a shield on the reverse.
Southeast Asia
Pine Tree Shilling
Silver shilling from the Boston mint, struck about 1667–1674 but dated 1652, showing a pine tree beside the legend MASSACHUSETTS.
Colonial
Eighth Thistle Merk
A small hammered silver Scottish coin of James VI, showing a crowned heraldic shield of arms on one side and a crowned thistle on the other.
Hammered
Gothic Florin
A silver two-shilling florin of Queen Victoria in the medieval-revival Gothic style, with an ornate crowned cruciform shield reverse dated 1869.
Milled