Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Livonian Order Schilling
A small hammered silver schilling of the medieval Livonian Order, showing heraldic shields and a cross, struck in the Baltic around 1410–1415.
Medieval
5 Francs (First Republic)
A large silver 5-franc crown of the French First Republic, dated by the revolutionary calendar as L'an 9 (1800–1801), with a right-facing Liberty head.
Circulation
Ecu of Louis XIV
A large silver crown of Louis XIV, the Sun King, showing his laureate or wigged bust facing left and a crowned French shield of fleur-de-lis, dated 1693.
Royal
Trinidad and Tobago 50 Cents
A large copper-nickel Caribbean circulation coin; the 1967 example carries the national coat of arms and country name on the obverse and the 50-cent value on the reverse.
Circulation
New Zealand Threepence
New Zealand's small silver threepence; this 1933 example carries the crowned bust of King George V with GEORGIVS V and his royal titles.
New Zealand
New Zealand Sixpence
New Zealand's small silver sixpence, famed for its native-bird reverse. This 1934 example shows King George V and the bird design with NEW ZEALAND SIXPENCE.
New Zealand
Gold Sovereign
The British gold sovereign: a one-pound gold coin. This 1817 George III example shows a laureate bust and a crowned heraldic shield of the royal arms.
World
Canadian Two Dollar (Toonie)
Canada's bimetallic $2 coin, introduced in 1996 with a polar bear design; universally nicknamed the 'toonie' after the loonie dollar.
Canadian & Provincial
British Brass Threepence
Chunky twelve-sided nickel-brass threepence of George VI, showing his head and a thrift plant reverse; the example shown is dated 1942.
British Isles
Bank of Upper Canada One Penny Token
Copper penny token of the Bank of Upper Canada showing St. George slaying the dragon, with a crowned royal-arms reverse; this example dated 1854.
Canadian & Provincial
Spade Guinea
A late George III gold guinea named for the distinctive spade-shaped shield on its reverse, struck in England from 1787 into the early 1800s.
Milled
Laurel
A hammered English gold coin of James I worth twenty shillings, named for the king's laurel-wreathed profile, struck 1619-1625.
Hammered
Liberty Head Half Eagle
United States $5 gold coin with a left-facing Liberty head ringed by stars and a spread-winged eagle reverse; the pictured piece is dated 1838.
United States
Aureus of Faustina II
Roman imperial gold coin with the draped bust of Faustina II, daughter of Antoninus Pius and wife of Marcus Aurelius, struck around 147-150 AD.
Ancient Coins
Aureus of Marcus Aurelius
Small Roman gold coin of the reign of Marcus Aurelius; this piece shows a diademed portrait and a standing deity or personification, dated to 163 AD.
Ancient Coins
Washington Quarter
U.S. twenty-five-cent coin introduced in 1932, showing George Washington's profile and an eagle reverse; early issues struck in 90% silver.
Quarter
Seated Liberty Quarter
U.S. twenty-five-cent silver coin struck 1838–1891, showing Liberty seated with shield and staff on the obverse and a shield-breasted eagle on the reverse.
Quarter
Indian Head Half Eagle
U.S. $5 gold half eagle struck 1908–1929, with an unusual sunken (incuse) design: a headdressed Native American obverse and a standing eagle reverse.
Half Eagle
Lincoln Wheat Cent
U.S. one-cent coin struck 1909–1958 with Lincoln's profile and a pair of wheat ears framing ONE CENT; the 1909-S here is a scarce first-year San Francisco issue.
Small Cent
Broad
A gold twenty-shilling coin of the Protectorate bearing Oliver Cromwell's Roman-style profile and a crowned quartered shield, dated 1656.
Hammered
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
Sestertius of Marcus Aurelius
A large Roman bronze sestertius struck during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161–180 CE), with his laureate portrait facing right and a Latin legend.
Ancient
Denarius of Caracalla
A silver denarius of the Roman emperor Caracalla, struck 198–217 CE, showing his laureate right-facing bust and a Latin legend encircling the design.
Ancient
Bronze Coin of Septimius Severus (Tyre)
Roman provincial bronze struck at Tyre (Phoenicia) under Septimius Severus, 193-211 AD, with the emperor's bust on the obverse and a temple or deity reverse.
Ancient