Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Capped Bust Quarter
An early U.S. silver quarter dollar showing Liberty in a cloth cap over a shield-breasted eagle, struck at Philadelphia from 1815 to 1838.
Quarter
Australian Crown
Australia's only crown (five-shilling) coin, a large sterling-silver piece struck in 1937 and 1938 with a George VI portrait and a crown reverse.
Australian
Australian Fifty Cents
Australia's 50 cent coin bearing the national coat of arms. The 1966 round issue shown here was struck in silver; later 12-sided coins are cupronickel.
Australian
Voyageur Dollar
Canada's first circulating silver dollar, struck in 1935 for King George V's Silver Jubilee, showing a voyageur and guide paddling a canoe.
World Coins
Palestine 2 Mils
A small bronze coin of British Mandate Palestine, inscribed PALESTINE in English, Arabic and Hebrew, with an olive sprig above the TWO MILS value.
World
Egyptian 1 Pound
An Egyptian cupro-nickel 1 Pound commemorative marking World Food Day 1981, its reverse showing standing figures with wheat sheaves.
World
Thailand One Baht
A silver one-baht coin of Siam struck under King Rama VI, its obverse bearing the young king's uniformed profile within Thai royal inscriptions.
Southeast Asia
Vietnam 2 Tien - Bao Dai
A gold 2 Tien of Vietnam's last emperor, Bao Dai (1926-1945), its face bearing a radiant sun motif and Chinese-Vietnamese court inscriptions.
Southeast Asia
Warring States Knife Coin
A cast bronze knife coin (dao bi) of China's Warring States period, shaped like a small blade with a ringed handle and cast inscriptions.
Ancient
Kiautschou 5 Cents
A 1909 nickel 5 Cent coin of the German-leased Kiautschou Bay territory in China, pairing Chinese characters with the German imperial eagle.
Colonial
Junk Dollar
China's Republic-era silver dollar with Sun Yat-sen facing left and a Chinese junk under sail on the reverse; the pictured coin is Year 23 (1934).
Circulation
Guangxu Yuanbao 1 Mace 4.4 Candareens
A small silver dragon coin of Qing China from the Guangxu era, its face reading 1 Mace 4.4 Candareens and its back showing a coiled Chinese dragon.
Circulation
Chu State Ant-Nose Coin
A small cast bronze cowrie-shaped coin of the Chu state, bearing a face-like Chinese inscription in relief, nicknamed ant-nose or ghost-face money.
Ancient
Two Cent Piece
America's only two-cent coin, struck in bronze from 1864 to 1873, and the first U.S. coin to carry the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST."
Two Cent
Aigina Turtle Stater
Thick silver stater of the island of Aigina, c. 480-456 BC, with a sea turtle on the obverse and a divided incuse punch on the reverse.
Ancient
5 Francs Semeuse
France's silver 5 francs of the New Franc era: Roty's striding Semeuse (Sower) on the obverse, the value in an olive spray on the reverse.
Circulation
Solidus of Galla Placidia
A late Roman gold solidus struck in the name of Galla Placidia, empress and regent, showing her diademed bust and a Victory holding a long cross.
Ancient
Macedonian Silver Tetradrachm
Large silver tetradrachm of ancient Macedon in the Alexander type, c. 188-170 BC, with the head of Heracles in a lion skin and Zeus enthroned holding an eagle.
Ancient
Bronze Coin of Cleopatra VII
Ptolemaic bronze coin of Cleopatra VII of Egypt, 51-30 BC, showing her draped diademed bust in profile as sole named female ruler of the dynasty.
Ancient
Roman Sestertius (Uncertain Emperor)
A large Roman imperial sestertius in bronze or orichalcum, heavily patinated with a bearded emperor's portrait and a reverse too worn to identify.
Ancient
Mark Antony Legionary Denarius
Silver denarius struck by Mark Antony in 32-31 BC to pay his army and fleet; reverse aquila between two standards, this example countermarked IMP VES.
Ancient
Denarius of M. Sanquinius
A silver denarius struck at Rome in 17 BC by the moneyer M. Sanquinius under Augustus, tied to the Secular Games, with a male portrait and a standing herald.
Ancient
Calpurnia Denarius
Silver Roman Republican denarius of the Calpurnia gens: a right-facing male head on the obverse and a galloping horseman with inscription on the reverse.
Ancient
Akçe
The akçe was the tiny silver coin at the heart of the early Ottoman economy, struck with Arabic-script inscriptions and no portrait or figural imagery.
Medieval