Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
South African Union Silver Crown (5 Shillings)
Large silver crown of the Union of South Africa, struck periodically from the late 1940s, featuring a springbok reverse and occasional special commemorative designs.
Africa & Oceania
Venetian Gold Ducat
First struck in 1284, the Venetian gold ducat became medieval Europe's most trusted trade coin, prized for centuries for its unwavering weight and purity.
European
Spanish Colonial Gold Escudo (Doubloon)
The gold coinage of the Spanish American colonies, popularly nicknamed the doubloon, struck in denominations up to 8 escudos and famous from pirate and shipwreck lore.
Latin American
Cook Islands Colored Silver Coins
A broad category of colorful commemorative silver coins issued under the sovereignty of the Cook Islands, covering religious, historical, and pop-culture themes aimed at collectors worldwide.
Africa & Oceania
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
Gold Panda (China)
China's flagship gold bullion coin, issued since 1982 with a different panda design nearly every year, making the series a favorite among both bullion buyers and date-and-design collectors.
Bullion
Julian II Bull Bronze
A large bronze maiorina of Julian the Apostate with a bull reverse, associated with his brief attempt to revive traditional pagan worship in Rome.
Ancient
Prussian Thaler
The Prussian Thaler was the leading silver coin of the powerful Kingdom of Prussia, circulating from the mid-18th century until German unification replaced it with the mark in 1871–1873.
European
Guinea
Historic British gold coin named for the West African region that supplied much of its gold, valued at 21 shillings for most of its history and predecessor to the modern sovereign.
British
German 5 Deutsche Mark Commemoratives
West Germany issued special silver 5 Deutsche Mark coins from the 1950s through the mid-1980s to mark anniversaries, institutions, and notable Germans, alongside its regular circulating 5 DM coin.
Commemorative
Virginia Halfpenny
An official royal copper coinage struck in London specifically for the Colony of Virginia, showing King George III, whose distribution was disrupted by the approaching American Revolution.
United States
Half Guinea
Smaller companion gold coin to the guinea, worth half its value, struck across the same reigns from Charles II through George III for mid-value transactions.
British
Lysimachos Tetradrachm (Alexander/Athena)
A silver tetradrachm struck by King Lysimachos, one of Alexander the Great's successors, showing the deified Alexander with a ram's horn and a seated Athena on the reverse.
Ancient
German Prussia 20 Mark Gold
The standard gold coin of Prussia within the newly unified German Empire, featuring successive Prussian kings and forming a key part of the empire's gold mark system.
European
Western Satrap Silver Drachm
A silver drachm of the Western Satraps, Saka rulers of western India, easily identified by a crude Greek-style portrait obverse and a three-arched hill reverse.
Ancient
Magnentius Double Centenionalis
A large bronze coin of the usurper Magnentius featuring one of the earliest large Christian Chi-Rho symbols on Roman coinage.
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
Brazil 960 Reis
Brazilian silver coin created by overstriking Spanish colonial 8 reales with new Portuguese royal dies, issued after the Portuguese royal court relocated to Brazil.
Latin American
Argentina 8 Reales
Silver 8 reales struck after Argentina's 1810 independence movement, replacing the Spanish king's portrait with the revolutionary Sun of May and clasped hands design.
Latin American
Argentine 8 Escudos Gold (1813)
An extremely rare gold coin from the earliest years of Argentine independence, struck briefly at Potosí under revolutionary authority and bearing the iconic Sun of May.
Latin American
Austrian Florin (Gulden)
The main silver coin of Austria-Hungary in the second half of the 19th century, used until the krone replaced it in the 1892 monetary reform.
European
Dutch Rijksdaalder
A historic Dutch silver trade coin dating to the Dutch Republic, later continued as a denomination of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
European
Korean Sangpyeong Tongbo Cash
The standard cash coin of Joseon-dynasty Korea, cast for over two centuries with a huge range of mint and workshop marks on the reverse.
Asian
Gela Man-Headed Bull Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm of the Sicilian city of Gela, featuring a racing quadriga on the obverse and the man-headed bull river god Gelas on the reverse.
Ancient