Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Chinese Empire Silver Dollar (Hsuan Tung Dragon)
A late Qing dynasty silver dollar issued during the brief Hsuan Tung (Xuantong) reign of the last emperor, featuring an imperial dragon design.
Asian
1949 King George VI Silver Dollar
A one-year Canadian silver dollar issued to mark Newfoundland's entry into Confederation, depicting John Cabot's ship the Matthew on the reverse.
Canadian
1949 Newfoundland Silver Dollar (Matthew ship)
A commemorative Canadian silver dollar marking Newfoundland's entry into Confederation in 1949, its reverse depicting John Cabot's ship the Matthew.
Canadian
Kroisos (Croeseid) Gold Stater of Lydia
A pure gold stater struck under King Croesus of Lydia, part of history's first coinage issued in separate fixed-purity gold and silver denominations.
Ancient
Augustus Denarius
The main silver coin of Rome's first emperor, Augustus, whose long reign established the imperial monetary system that would last for centuries.
Ancient
Chalkidian League Apollo Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm issued by the Chalkidian League of northern Greek cities, showing the laureate head of Apollo and a lyre, minted at Olynthus.
Ancient
Abdera Griffin Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm of the Thracian city of Abdera, featuring the mythical griffin inherited from its mother-city Teos, with magistrates' names on the reverse.
Ancient
Segesta Hound Tetradrachm
Silver coin of Segesta in western Sicily, an Elymian city whose coinage features a hunting hound, linked to local legend of the river god Krimisos.
Ancient
Kroton Tripod Stater
A silver stater from the Greek colony of Kroton in southern Italy, depicting Apollo's sacred tripod, among the finest examples of the early incuse coinage style.
Ancient
Cyzicus Electrum Stater
An electrum stater from the trading city of Cyzicus on the Sea of Marmara, part of one of the most important and long-lived precious-metal trade currencies of the ancient world.
Ancient
1794 Flowing Hair Half Dollar
The first half dollar ever struck by the United States Mint, produced in tiny numbers and ranking among the most desirable early American silver coins.
United States
2010 Hot Springs America the Beautiful Quarter
The first coin in the America the Beautiful Quarters series, honoring Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas with an image of its historic bathhouse row.
United States
1921 Walking Liberty Half Dollar
The three 1921 mintmark varieties are the acknowledged key dates of the Walking Liberty half dollar series, each struck in unusually small numbers.
United States
1918/7-S Standing Liberty Quarter Overdate
One of the most famous overdate varieties in U.S. coinage, where a leftover 1917 die was re-punched with an 1918 date, leaving remnants of the 7 visible beneath the 8.
Errors & Varieties
1896-S Barber Quarter
One of the three classic key dates of the Barber quarter series, valued for its low original mintage and the difficulty of finding problem-free survivors.
United States
Morgan Silver Dollar
Iconic American silver dollar struck from 1878 to 1921, named for its designer George T. Morgan and beloved for its bold Liberty portrait and eagle reverse.
United States
Braided Hair Large Cent
The final large cent design, showing Liberty with braided hair, produced until the bulky copper cent was replaced by the small Flying Eagle cent in 1857.
United States
Nickel Three-Cent Piece
A post-Civil War small coin struck in copper-nickel to replace the fragile silver three-cent piece and small-denomination paper currency then in circulation.
United States
1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent
The most famous key date in the Lincoln cent series, struck only briefly at the San Francisco Mint with designer Victor D. Brenner's initials on the reverse.
United States
Merovingian Gold Tremissis
A small gold coin of the Merovingian Frankish kingdom, worth one-third of a solidus, often naming the local moneyer who struck it rather than the reigning king.
European
Celtic Gold Stater of the Parisii
A gold stater struck by the Parisii, the Gallic tribe that gave its name to Paris, showing highly abstracted, stylized versions of Greek prototype designs.
Ancient
Chinese Qing Dynasty Cash (Qian Long Tong Bao)
A brass cash coin issued during the long, prosperous reign of the Qianlong Emperor, one of the most commonly encountered Qing Dynasty coins in collections today.
Asian
1922 Canadian Nickel Five Cents
The first year Canada's five-cent coin was struck in solid nickel rather than silver, introducing the beaver reverse design that would define the coin for decades.
Canadian
George VI Small Cent (Maple Twig)
Canada's bronze one-cent coin issued under King George VI, featuring two maple leaves on a twig, a design that helped modernize Canadian coinage in the late 1930s.
Canadian