Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Selinus (Selinunte) River God Tetradrachm
Silver coinage of the Sicilian city of Selinus, notable for depicting the local river god sacrificing at an altar, along with the celery leaf that puns on the city's name.
Ancient
Athenian Owl Tetradrachm
Classical Athenian silver coin depicting Athena and her sacred owl, one of the most recognizable and widely circulated coinages of the ancient Mediterranean world.
Ancient
Edward VII Large Cent
Canada's large bronze cent struck 1902-1910 under King Edward VII, continuing the pre-1920 large cent format.
Canadian
Norwegian Speciedaler
Norway's principal silver coin from the establishment of its independent currency in 1816 until the krone reform of the 1870s.
European
George V Large Cent
Canada's final large-format bronze cent, struck 1911-1920 under King George V, including the controversial 1911 "Godless" issue.
Canadian
Ottoman Para
A small fractional Ottoman coin, historically 1/40 of a kurus, struck for centuries in varying metals as the empire's lowest everyday denomination.
World
Egyptian Farouk 5 Piastres
Silver five-piastre coin of the Kingdom of Egypt struck during the reign of King Farouk, featuring his portrait or cipher alongside Arabic denomination legends.
Africa & Oceania
Mexican Libertad
Mexico's flagship bullion coin, featuring the Angel of Independence on the obverse and the national coat of arms on the reverse, prized for its classic design and high purity.
Bullion
Straits Settlements Dollar
The official silver dollar of Britain's Straits Settlements colony, bearing the reigning monarch's portrait and trilingual denomination on the reverse.
Asian
Canadian Palladium Maple Leaf
The Royal Canadian Mint's palladium bullion coin, sharing the Maple Leaf design used across Canada's precious metal series, produced intermittently since 2005.
Bullion
Somali Elephant Gold
The gold version of Somalia's popular African Wildlife elephant coin series, produced by the Bavarian State Mint with a design refreshed nearly every year.
Bullion
Australian Silver Koala
A Perth Mint silver bullion coin featuring an annually changing depiction of the koala, launched in 2007 as a companion series to the long-running Silver Kookaburra.
Bullion
Australian Lunar Series Gold
The gold counterpart to Perth Mint's Lunar bullion series, depicting the twelve Chinese zodiac animals across three evolving design generations since 1996.
Bullion
Australian Silver Kookaburra
An annually redesigned Australian silver bullion coin issued since 1990, featuring a different depiction of the native kookaburra bird each year.
Bullion
Bolivia 8 Soles Silver
An early Bolivian republican silver coin denominated in soles, struck at Potosí in the decades following independence before the boliviano currency system replaced it.
Latin American
Peru 1 Sol Silver 'Seated Liberty'
A classic Peruvian silver coin showing a seated female Liberty figure holding a shield and staff, struck intermittently over several decades at the Lima mint.
Latin American
Massachusetts Oak Tree Shilling
The second design in Massachusetts Bay's colonial tree-coin series, showing an oak tree, more available than the earlier Willow Tree type but still a scarce early American colonial rarity.
United States
1958 British Columbia Totem Pole Dollar
A commemorative Canadian silver dollar marking the centennial of the founding of the Colony of British Columbia in 1858, its reverse featuring a totem pole design.
Canadian
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
Republican Victoriatus
A lighter-weight Roman Republican silver coin depicting Jupiter and a Victory crowning a trophy, used largely for trade with the Greek-influenced south.
Ancient
Thailand (Siam) Silver Baht 'Bullet Money' (Pod Duang)
Distinctive bent-bar silver currency used in Siam for centuries, hand-formed into a bullet-like shape and stamped with royal marks in place of a flat coin design.
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
Persian Gold Daric
The standard gold coin of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, depicting the Persian Great King as a running or kneeling archer, used widely to pay soldiers and mercenaries.
Ancient
George Noble
A short-lived English gold coin of 1526 depicting St. George slaying the dragon, among the rarest coins of Henry VIII's reign.
British