Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Anglo-Saxon Styca
A tiny base-metal coin of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, struck in the 8th-9th century with a head and inscription on one side and a cross on the other.
Medieval Coins
Qian Feng Quan Bao
A round bronze Tang cash coin with a square center hole, cast under Emperor Gaozong in the short-lived Qianfeng era and worth ten ordinary cash.
Cash Coin
Daoguang Tongbao
A round Chinese bronze cash coin with a square center hole, cast under the Qing emperor Daoguang; this example bears the Bao Quan mint mark.
Cash Coin
Transylvanian Ducat of Catherine of Brandenburg
Gold ducat dated 1630 of Catherine of Brandenburg, ruling Princess of Transylvania, with her portrait and a double-headed eagle and shield reverse.
Medieval
South Africa 5 Shillings
A large 1952 South African silver crown marking Cape Town's 300th anniversary, with King George VI and a sailing-ship reverse.
Circulation
Arles Miliarensis
A late Roman silver miliarensis of the 4th century AD, with a diademed imperial portrait and an armed standing figure holding spear and shield.
Ancient
Qianlong Tongbao (An Nam)
A bronze round cash coin with a square center hole bearing the four characters Qianlong Tongbao, cast in An Nam (Vietnam) in the imitative Chinese style.
Cash Coin
Rhodes Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm of the island city of Rhodes, 4th century BC, with the radiate head of the sun-god Helios and a rose, the city's civic emblem.
Ancient
Roman Siliqua
Small late-Roman silver coin of the 4th century AD, with an emperor's portrait facing right and a standing robed figure on the reverse.
Ancient
Styca of Eanred
Small base-metal coin of King Eanred of Northumbria, with a cross and legend on one face and a central symbolic motif on the other.
Medieval Coins
Ban Liang
A round bronze cash coin with a square central hole and two seal-script characters reading Ban Liang, from early imperial China.
Ancient
20 Soles de Oro
A Peruvian gold 20 soles de oro showing a seated Liberty with crown, torch and radiant sun, part of Peru's mid-20th-century gold coinage.
Circulation
Quincunx of Capua
Bronze quincunx (5 unciae) struck by Capua in Campania in the 3rd century BC, pairing a diademed female head with a lion or griffin and five value pellets.
Ancient
Dirham of Hasan ibn Zayd
A 9th-century Islamic silver dirham struck for Hasan ibn Zayd, the Alid ruler of Tabaristan, bearing concentric Arabic religious and authority legends.
Islamic (Medieval)
Swedish Gold Commemorative
An early-20th-century Swedish gold coin showing a right-facing royal profile with the legend SVERIGES KONUNG and the fatherland motto.
Commemorative
Corinthian Drachm
A silver drachm of ancient Corinth pairing a helmeted head of Athena with the city's emblem, the winged horse Pegasus, struck in the mid-4th century BC.
Ancient
Styca of Aethelred
Small base-metal coin of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, naming King Aethelred, with a central device and legend on one face and a cross on the other.
Medieval Coins
Romania International Year of Chemistry Commemorative
Romanian silver 10 lei commemorative dated 2011, issued for the International Year of Chemistry with molecular, laboratory and scientist imagery.
Commemorative
Panama-Pacific Exposition $50 (Octagonal)
An eight-sided $50 gold commemorative struck for San Francisco's 1915 world's fair, showing Minerva and her owl — the largest U.S. coin of its era.
Classic Commemorative
2 Fillér
A small early-20th-century Hungarian 2 fillér in copper-based bronze, showing the crowned Hungarian coat of arms on the obverse and the value with date on the reverse.
Modern
Denier of Charlemagne
A hand-struck silver denier of Charlemagne, king of the Franks: a central cross ringed by the CARLVS REX FR legend, with a royal monogram design on the reverse.
Medieval
Counterstamped 8 Reales
A Charles IV silver 8 reales later punched with counterstamps and pierced with a central hole, layering a second life onto the classic Spanish dollar.
Colonial
Gold Dinar of Ahmad ibn Tulun
A late-9th-century Islamic gold dinar of the Tulunid ruler Ahmad ibn Tulun, its faces filled with concentric Arabic inscriptions and dated AH 268 (881–882 CE).
Islamic (Medieval)
Pahlavi Reign Gold Medal
A gold medal of Pahlavi-era Iran, its obverse a left-facing royal portrait and its reverse the Lion and Sun beneath a crown, dated 1971.
Persia / Iran