Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
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
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
100 Won
South Korea's everyday nickel 100 won coin, showing Admiral Yi Sun-sin in his winged helmet on the obverse and a large numeral 100 on the reverse.
Circulation
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
Turban Head Eagle
The first U.S. ten-dollar gold coin, struck 1795–1804, with a right-facing Liberty in a soft cap and an eagle reverse.
Eagle
Mercury Dime Centennial Gold
A 2016-W gold collector coin marking the centennial of the 1916 Mercury dime, struck in 1/10 oz of 24-karat gold at West Point.
Dime
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
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
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
Schaummünze 4 Thaler
A silver Schaummünze struck to a 4-Thaler weight, dated 1666, with elaborate heraldic and figural imagery referencing August der Jüngere.
Medal
Jamaica Half Penny
An 1871 colonial Jamaica halfpenny in copper-nickel: young Queen Victoria facing left on the obverse, the crowned Jamaican shield of arms on the reverse.
Colonial
Ludwigs-Eisenbahn Nürnberg-Fürth 150 Pfennig
A 1921 German emergency-money 150 Pfennig piece from Nürnberg-Fürth, struck in zinc-iron and showing an ornamental Kunstbrunnen fountain monument.
Token/notgeld
Holey Dollar
Australia's first struck coin: a Spanish silver dollar with its centre punched out, counterstamped NEW SOUTH WALES 1813 and revalued at five shillings.
Australian
Quarter Farthing
Tiny copper coin of Queen Victoria worth one-sixteenth of a penny, struck for use in Ceylon; the smallest-value British denomination ever made.
British Isles
Victoria Maundy Fourpence
A tiny sterling-silver ceremonial coin from a royal Maundy set. This 1889 example shows Victoria's crowned Jubilee Head and a crowned '4' in a wreath.
British Isles