Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
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
Charles I Twenty Pence
A small hammered silver twenty-pence coin of Charles I, showing his crowned profile and a heraldic reverse with rose and thistle badges.
Hammered
Spanish Colonial Half Real
The smallest milled silver coin of Spain's American empire: a tiny 1/2 real with a royal bust and the crowned arms between pillars.
Colonial
Counterstamped 2 Reales
A Spanish silver 2 reales dated 1803 that was later punched with a WR-and-crown counterstamp, giving it a second, borrowed life as legal tender.
Colonial
Antoninianus
Roman imperial coin of the crisis era, marked by a radiate (spiked) crown on the emperor's head; struck in debased silver-and-copper billon, c. 250-270 AD.
Ancient Coins
10 Para
Small Ottoman silver 10 Para dated AH 1280 (1863-1864), with the sultan's calligraphic tughra on one side and an ornamental Arabic-script inscription on the other.
Early Modern
French Half Ecu (Demi-Ecu)
A silver half ecu of Louis XVI dated 1792, with his bust left and a standing winged genius reverse reading L'AN 4 DE LA LIBERTE.
Royal
British East Africa Half Shilling
A small low-fineness silver coin of British East Africa bearing King George VI; the half shilling equalled fifty cents in the East African system.
World
Dirham of Samura ibn Jundab
An Arab-Sassanian silver dirham struck in the name of the early governor Samura ibn Jundab, keeping the Persian Shah bust and fire-altar design with added Arabic.
Islamic (Medieval)