Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Australian Fifty Cents
Australia's 50 cent coin bearing the national coat of arms. The 1966 round issue shown here was struck in silver; later 12-sided coins are cupronickel.
Australian
Canadian 50 Cents
Canada's mid-century silver 50-cent piece bearing King George VI, struck in 80% silver with the Canadian coat of arms.
World Coins
Württemberg Kreuzer
A small silver 1 Kreuzer of the Duchy of Württemberg, dated 1690, with a heraldic coat of arms and a crowned shield over scrollwork.
German States
25 Gulden
The gold 25 Gulden of the Free City of Danzig, dated 1923, pairing the lion-supported Danzig arms with an armed female figure holding a trident.
Modern
Yuan Shikai Dollar
A silver one-yuan dollar of the early Chinese Republic bearing the left-facing bust of Yuan Shikai, nicknamed the "Fatman Dollar" by collectors.
Circulation
Laurel
A hammered English gold coin of James I worth twenty shillings, named for the king's laurel-wreathed profile, struck 1619-1625.
Hammered
Yunnan 20 Cents
A 1932 provincial silver 20 Cents from Yunnan, China, with a radiant sun and rays on one face and central Chinese value characters framed by ornament on the other.
Circulation
Central American Republic 8 Reales
A silver 8 reales of the Central American Republic, showing a rayed sun rising over mountains on one side and a tree on the other, dated 1824.
Circulation
Kenya 1 Shilling
A circulating one-shilling coin of the Republic of Kenya bearing President Jomo Kenyatta on the obverse and the Kenyan coat of arms on the reverse.
World
Hessen-Homburg Kreuzer
A small silver 1 Kreuzer of the Landgraviate of Hessen-Homburg, with a crowned arms shield and a dated 1 KREUZER value in a laurel wreath.
German States
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
Antiochos IV Epiphanes Tetradrachm
Large silver tetradrachm of the Seleucid king Antiochos IV Epiphanes, 175-164 BC, with his diademed head and an enthroned deity reverse.
Ancient
Scudo (Philip V)
A gold scudo struck for Spanish-ruled Sardinia under Philip V, bearing a crowned shield flanked by the Columns of Hercules and a cross reverse.
Early Modern
Papua New Guinea 5 Kina
Papua New Guinea's 1975 five-kina coin: Queen Elizabeth II in profile on the obverse, a bird-of-paradise with the K5 denomination on the reverse.
Circulation
Gibraltar Crown
A 1982 Gibraltar cupro-nickel crown marking the christening of Prince William, showing the Queen Mother and Princess Diana with the infant prince.
Commemorative
Henry VII Sovereign
The first English gold sovereign, struck under Henry VII, showing the crowned king enthroned in majesty on an elaborate Gothic throne.
Medieval Coins
Tanzania 500 Shillings
A modern base-metal circulating coin of Tanzania carrying a right-facing portrait long associated with the nation's founding president and a Kiswahili legend.
World
Spanish Doubloon (8 Escudos)
Large Spanish gold coin worth eight escudos, showing the right-facing bust of King Charles IV and a crowned Spanish shield with a cross.
World 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
Philip II Tetradrachm
A large silver coin of the Macedonian kingdom showing the laureate head of Zeus and a youthful horseman, struck under and after Philip II.
Ancient
Trinidad and Tobago 5 Cents
A bronze five-cent coin of Trinidad and Tobago showing a perched bird — the Greater Bird of Paradise, often mistaken for a parrot — with FIVE CENTS on the reverse.
Circulation
Broad
A gold twenty-shilling coin of the Protectorate bearing Oliver Cromwell's Roman-style profile and a crowned quartered shield, dated 1656.
Hammered
India 1 Rupee Commemorative
Copper-nickel Republic of India one rupee showing the Ashoka Lion Capital emblem, with the value and Devanagari legends on the reverse, from the late 20th century.
Modern India
Disarmament Commemorative Ruble
A 1988 Soviet copper-nickel commemorative ruble marking the US-Soviet treaty that scrapped intermediate- and shorter-range nuclear missiles.
World Coins