Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Philip and Mary Shilling
Hammered silver shilling of Philip II of Spain and Mary I (1554-1558), showing their paired royal busts and a crowned quartered shield of arms.
Hammered
Groat of William IV
A small silver fourpenny piece of William IV (1836–1837), with a seated Britannia reverse; the coin that revived the modern British groat.
Milled
Penny of Cnut
Anglo-Saxon silver penny of King Cnut (Canute), showing a diademed bust facing left with a cross-and-pellets reverse, struck c.1024-1030.
Medieval Coins
Aureus of Augustus
Roman imperial gold coin bearing the bare head of Augustus, first emperor of Rome, struck during his reign from 27 BC to 14 AD.
Ancient Coins
Dutch East Indies Duit
Small copper duit of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), showing the interlaced VOC monogram and a crowned provincial coat of arms, dated 1735.
Southeast Asia
Mughal Quarter-Rupee
A small hammered Mughal silver quarter-rupee inscribed in Persian, struck at the Lahore mint and dated Ilahi 47 (AD 1602-1603).
Historic
Denarius of Augustus
Silver denarius of Augustus (c. 19-18 BC) with his bare head and a comet-star of the deified Julius Caesar, inscribed DIVVS IVLIVS.
Ancient Coins
Silver Dirham of Sultan Qalawun
A hand-struck Mamluk silver dirham of Sultan Qalawun of Egypt, covered on both faces with Arabic calligraphy and struck AD 1279–1290.
Islamic
Liberty Head Double Eagle
U.S. $20 gold coin struck 1850–1907, showing a coroneted Liberty head left and a heraldic eagle with shield; the 1869 is a with-motto Type 2.
Double Eagle
Seated Liberty Dollar
U.S. silver dollar (1840-1873) with Liberty seated holding a shield and a liberty-cap pole, ringed by stars. The pictured coin is dated 1860.
Dollar
Denarius of Didius Julianus
A silver denarius of Didius Julianus, the short-lived emperor of 193 AD, bearing his laureate portrait and an imperial standing reverse.
Ancient
Livonian Order Schilling
A small hammered silver schilling of the medieval Livonian Order, showing heraldic shields and a cross, struck in the Baltic around 1410–1415.
Medieval
5 Francs (First Republic)
A large silver 5-franc crown of the French First Republic, dated by the revolutionary calendar as L'an 9 (1800–1801), with a right-facing Liberty head.
Circulation
Ecu of Louis XIV
A large silver crown of Louis XIV, the Sun King, showing his laureate or wigged bust facing left and a crowned French shield of fleur-de-lis, dated 1693.
Royal
British Brass Threepence
Chunky twelve-sided nickel-brass threepence of George VI, showing his head and a thrift plant reverse; the example shown is dated 1942.
British Isles
Bank of Upper Canada One Penny Token
Copper penny token of the Bank of Upper Canada showing St. George slaying the dragon, with a crowned royal-arms reverse; this example dated 1854.
Canadian & Provincial
Canadian Two Dollar (Toonie)
Canada's bimetallic $2 coin, introduced in 1996 with a polar bear design; universally nicknamed the 'toonie' after the loonie dollar.
Canadian & Provincial
Gold Sovereign
The British gold sovereign: a one-pound gold coin. This 1817 George III example shows a laureate bust and a crowned heraldic shield of the royal arms.
World
Spade Guinea
A late George III gold guinea named for the distinctive spade-shaped shield on its reverse, struck in England from 1787 into the early 1800s.
Milled
Laurel
A hammered English gold coin of James I worth twenty shillings, named for the king's laurel-wreathed profile, struck 1619-1625.
Hammered
Liberty Head Half Eagle
United States $5 gold coin with a left-facing Liberty head ringed by stars and a spread-winged eagle reverse; the pictured piece is dated 1838.
United States
Aureus of Faustina II
Roman imperial gold coin with the draped bust of Faustina II, daughter of Antoninus Pius and wife of Marcus Aurelius, struck around 147-150 AD.
Ancient Coins
Broad
A gold twenty-shilling coin of the Protectorate bearing Oliver Cromwell's Roman-style profile and a crowned quartered shield, dated 1656.
Hammered
Aureus of Marcus Aurelius
Small Roman gold coin of the reign of Marcus Aurelius; this piece shows a diademed portrait and a standing deity or personification, dated to 163 AD.
Ancient Coins