Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Uruguay Peso Silver 'Artigas'
A silver Uruguayan peso honoring national founding hero Jose Gervasio Artigas, struck in the early twentieth century as part of Uruguay's circulating coinage.
Latin American
Vietnamese Gia Long Thong Bao (cash coin)
The founding cash coin of Vietnam's Nguyễn Dynasty, cast under Emperor Gia Long who reunified the country in 1802 and established Huế as the imperial capital.
Asian
Chinese Fengtien Province Dragon Dollar
Silver dragon dollar struck by the provincial mint of Fengtien in Manchuria during the late Qing dynasty, notable for several rare dated varieties.
Asian
Farthing
The smallest-value British bronze coin, worth a quarter of a penny, fondly remembered for its charming wren reverse design used from 1937 until its withdrawal.
British
Gupta Empire Gold Dinar
Richly detailed gold coins of India's classical Gupta Empire, depicting kings as archers, horsemen, or lyrists, and often paired with a goddess on the reverse.
Ancient
1853 Seated Liberty Quarter (Arrows and Rays)
A popular one-year Seated Liberty type marked by arrows at the date and rays around the eagle, signaling a reduction in the coin's silver weight mandated by the Coinage Act of 1853.
United States
1965-1970 Kennedy Half Dollar (40% Silver)
Kennedy half dollars struck with a reduced 40% silver clad composition after the Coinage Act of 1965, bridging the gap between full silver coinage and today's copper-nickel clad coins.
United States
Japanese Oban
A large, oval, hand-hammered gold plate coin of feudal Japan, used mainly as a gift, reward, or ceremonial item rather than everyday currency, among the largest gold coins ever issued.
Asian
1936 Dot Cent
One of Canada's rarest coins: a 1936-dated cent quietly struck in 1937 with a tiny raised dot below the date after King Edward VIII's abdication delayed new George VI dies.
Canadian
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
Messana Hare and Biga Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm of Messana in Sicily, famous for its obverse mule-cart (biga) driven by a charioteer crowned by Nike, paired with a running hare on the reverse.
Ancient
Indian Head Eagle ($10)
A striking early 20th-century gold eagle designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens as part of President Theodore Roosevelt's push to beautify American coinage.
United States
Fugio Cent
The first coin authorized by the United States government, featuring a sundial, the word 'Fugio,' and the motto 'Mind Your Business,' often linked to Benjamin Franklin.
United States
Perth Mint Silver Swan
A silver bullion coin from the Perth Mint featuring the black swan, an emblem of Western Australia, with a fresh design issued in most years.
Bullion
Mexican Gold Centenario (50 Pesos)
Mexico's iconic gold coin, first struck in 1921 to mark a century of independence, depicting the Angel of Independence and still produced today as bullion.
Bullion
Mexican Balanza Silver Peso (1957-1967)
The last circulating silver peso of Mexico, struck in a much-reduced silver alloy through the 1960s before Mexico moved fully to base-metal coinage.
Latin American
Titus Denarius
The silver denarius of Emperor Titus, second Flavian ruler, celebrated for completing the Colosseum and for a short, well-regarded reign.
Ancient
Grant Memorial Half Dollar
A 1922 U.S. commemorative half dollar honoring the 100th anniversary of Ulysses S. Grant's birth, famous for a rare 'star' variety.
Commemorative
1839 Gobrecht Dollar
The final-year Gobrecht dollar, bridging the earlier pattern strikes of 1836-1838 and the full-scale Seated Liberty dollar series that followed in 1840.
United States
1793 Wreath Cent
The second cent design of 1793, replacing the controversial Chain cent with a wreath reverse, and one of three distinct cent types struck that founding year.
United States
Anglo-Saxon Silver Penny
The standard silver coin of Anglo-Saxon England from the 8th century to the Norman Conquest, naming the issuing king and the moneyer who struck it.
British
Half Farthing
A tiny copper coin worth one-eighth of a penny, struck mainly for use in colonial Ceylon during the reigns of George IV, William IV, and Victoria.
British
Valerian Antoninianus
Radiate coin of Valerian, the only Roman emperor ever captured alive by a foreign enemy, taken prisoner by the Sassanid king Shapur I in 260 AD.
Ancient
Constantine URBS ROMA Commemorative
A small bronze commemorative honoring the city of Rome with a helmeted Roma obverse and the iconic she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus on the reverse.
Ancient