Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Edward I Penny
Hammered silver penny of Edward I, showing a crowned facing bust on the obverse and a long voided cross with pellets in the quadrants on the reverse.
Medieval Coins
Shilling of George III
A milled silver shilling of George III from the Great Recoinage, with his laureate bust facing right and a crowned quartered royal shield within the Garter.
Milled
Irish Gun Money Shilling
A base-metal Irish emergency shilling struck for James II in 1689-1690, with his laureate bust and a crowned reverse dated by month, here October 1689.
Emergency Coinage
U.S. Constitution Bicentennial Silver Dollar
A 1987 U.S. Mint 90% silver commemorative dollar marking the 200th anniversary of the Constitution, with a quill-pen obverse.
Modern Commemorative
Congress Bicentennial Silver Dollar
A 1989 U.S. commemorative silver dollar marking 200 years of Congress, pairing a standing Liberty-style figure with an eagle above the U.S. Capitol.
Modern Commemorative
Tetradrachm of Ptolemy IV
Silver tetradrachm of Ptolemy IV Philopator, 221-204 BC, with the jugate busts of Sarapis and Isis on the obverse and an eagle on a thunderbolt on the reverse.
Ancient
U.S. Capitol Bicentennial Silver Dollar
A 1994 U.S. Mint silver commemorative dollar honoring 200 years of the United States Capitol, featuring the Capitol dome and a heraldic eagle.
Modern Commemorative
Penny of Cynethryth
Anglo-Saxon silver penny of Cynethryth, queen of Mercia and wife of Offa, and the only Anglo-Saxon queen named on her own coinage.
Medieval Coins
Irish Groat of Henry VIII
A hand-hammered silver fourpence struck for Ireland under Henry VIII, famed for introducing the crowned harp to Irish coinage.
Hammered
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
Alexander the Great Gold Quarter Stater
A small gold fraction of the Alexander the Great coinage, showing the head of Heracles and an eagle perched on a thunderbolt, the attributes of Zeus.
Ancient
Antoninianus of Caracalla
The antoninianus introduced by Caracalla around AD 215, a radiate-crowned double denarius in debased silver that reshaped Roman coinage.
Ancient
American Plantations Token
A 1688 tin token struck under James II for England's American colonies, valued at 1/24 of a Spanish real — the first regal-authorized coinage for British America.
Colonial
Charles II Halfpenny
A milled copper halfpenny of Charles II showing his laureate bust and a seated Britannia, part of the first regal copper coinage of England, dated 1675.
Milled
Fatimid Dinar of Imam Nizar
An 11th-century Fatimid gold dinar with concentric circular Kufic inscriptions naming the ruler and Shi'a invocations, a hallmark of Fatimid coinage.
Islamic (Medieval)
Three Graces Pattern Crown
A celebrated 1817 silver pattern crown of George III, engraved by William Wyon and never issued for circulation — a prized masterpiece of British coinage.
Pattern
George Washington 250th Anniversary Half Dollar
A 1982 U.S. silver half dollar honoring the 250th anniversary of George Washington's birth; it revived both the commemorative program and 90% silver coinage.
Modern Commemorative
5 Yang
A late-Joseon Korean 5 Yang in bronze: a floral, chrysanthemum-and-taegeuk obverse paired with a coiled dragon and ornamental characters on the reverse.
Historic
10 Sen
A small Meiji-era Japanese silver 10 Sen: a coiled dragon and characters on one face, a rayed sunburst framed by branches on the other.
Circulation
50 Sen (Dragon Type)
A Meiji-era Japanese silver 50 sen: a coiled dragon on one face, a sunburst-and-wreath value design on the other, dated Meiji 4 (1871).
Circulation
1 Yen (Silver)
An early Meiji silver 1 Yen struck in Meiji 3 (1870), showing a coiled dragon with a radiant sun on one side and a wreathed imperial crest on the other.
Circulation
Guangxu Yuanbao 7 Mace 2 Candareens
A silver Chinese dragon dollar of the Guangxu era, marked Guangxu Yuanbao and valued at 7 Mace 2 Candareens, with a coiled dragon on one face and Chinese legends on the other.
Circulation
Guangxu Yuanbao Dollar
A crown-sized silver dragon dollar of Qing China inscribed 光緒元寶 (Guangxu Yuanbao), with a coiled dragon reverse and a provincial mint inscription; this piece dated 1905.
Circulation