Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Mexican Un Peso Silver (Cap and Rays)
A late-nineteenth-century Mexican silver peso showing a radiant Liberty cap, struck at Mexico City and several regional mints during the Porfirio Díaz era.
Latin American
Spanish Colonial Cob (Macuquina)
Crude, irregularly shaped hand-struck coins produced at Spanish colonial mints in the Americas for over two centuries, forming the basis of the famous 'pieces of eight' that circulated worldwide.
Latin American
Chinese Cash Coin (Qing Dynasty 'Kangxi Tongbao')
Classic cast bronze cash coin bearing the reign title of Emperor Kangxi, struck across many provincial mints during one of the longest reigns in Chinese history.
Asian
Florentine Florin
Introduced in 1252, the gold florin of Florence became medieval Europe's leading trade coin, its lily emblem and fixed gold standard copied by dozens of other mints.
European
2 Euro Coin
The highest-denomination circulating euro coin, with a silver-colored center inside a gold-colored ring, widely used by member states to issue popular commemorative designs collected across Europe.
European
Higley Copper
A privately minted colonial Connecticut copper token, famous for its blunt 'VALUE ME AS YOU PLEASE' inscription after colonists balked at its initial overvalued threepence rating.
United States
Dutch Silver Ducat
A historic Dutch trade silver coin first struck in 1659, depicting a standing knight, that has been minted continuously for centuries and remains a popular silver bullion and collector piece today.
European
Qatar and Dubai Riyal
A short-lived joint currency issued for Qatar and Dubai between 1966 and 1973, created to replace the Gulf Rupee and used until each formed its own separate national currency.
Asian
Chinese Spade Money (Bu Coin)
An early Chinese bronze currency shaped like a miniature farming spade, used across several competing Zhou-era states before round coinage became standardized.
Asian
Euro €2 Commemorative Coins
Since 2004, Eurozone countries have issued special-design €2 coins commemorating anniversaries and events while keeping the coin's normal size, weight, and legal-tender status.
Commemorative
1 Euro Coin
The standard circulating one-euro coin used across the Eurozone since 2002, bimetallic with a gold-colored center and silver-colored ring, and a national obverse that varies by issuing country.
European
Velia (Elea) Lion and Nymph Nomos
A classic South Italian silver nomos pairing a finely helmeted head of Athena with a striding or attacking lion, from the philosophically famous city of Velia.
Ancient
50 Euro Cent Coin
A gold-colored circulating euro coin worth half a euro, struck in a copper-based Nordic gold alloy and easily recognized by its distinctive scalloped-edge shape and national obverse design.
European
German 3 Mark Silver
A large silver coin of Imperial Germany, issued by the various constituent states with distinct rulers' portraits and commemorative designs.
European
Reichsthaler
The standard large silver coin of the Holy Roman Empire and its constituent German states from the 16th century onward, whose name is the direct linguistic ancestor of the word 'dollar.'
European
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
Saxon Speciestaler
Full-weight silver taler issued by the Electors and later Kings of Saxony, distinguished from lesser-value "current" talers used for everyday commerce.
European
Indian Gold Mohur
The traditional high-value gold coin of the Indian subcontinent, struck for centuries by Mughal emperors, later by the British East India Company, British India, and various princely states.
Asian
Crown
Large British coin traditionally worth five shillings, historically struck in silver and famed for elaborate designs, now issued mainly as a cupro-nickel commemorative.
British
Netherlands Lion Daalder (Leeuwendaalder)
A large silver trade coin of the Dutch provinces showing a knight and a rampant lion, widely circulated in colonial North America and the Ottoman world as the prototype 'lion dollar.'
European
Terina Nike Nomos
A silver nomos from the South Italian city of Terina, celebrated among collectors for its graceful depictions of Nike, the winged goddess of victory, on the reverse.
Ancient
British Gold Guinea
Struck from 1663 to 1814 and named for the West African gold used in its earliest issues, the guinea was Britain's leading gold coin and gave its name to a unit of value still referenced today.
British
Bavaria Thaler
The historic large silver coin of Bavaria, struck across centuries by its electors and kings, capturing the state's political and artistic history until Germany's currency unification in the 1870s.
European
British Trade Dollar
A silver trade dollar struck by Britain to compete with the Mexican and Spanish dollars circulating across Hong Kong, China, and Southeast Asia.
Asian