Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
1858 Flying Eagle Cent
The final year of the short-lived Flying Eagle Cent, struck in Large Letters and Small Letters varieties before the Indian Head design replaced it in 1859.
United States
Flowing Hair Chain Cent
The first cent struck for circulation by the United States Mint, showing Liberty with flowing hair and a controversial 15-link chain on the reverse.
United States
British Britannia
The United Kingdom's official gold and silver bullion coin, featuring the classical helmeted figure of Britannia, issued by the Royal Mint since 1987.
Bullion
French 20 Franc Rooster
A French Third Republic gold coin replacing royal and imperial portraits with republican symbolism: Marianne on the obverse and a standing Gallic rooster on the reverse.
European
Canadian Silver Maple Leaf
Canada's flagship one-ounce silver bullion coin, prized for its exceptionally high .9999 purity and evolving anti-counterfeiting security features.
Bullion
German States Thaler
A large silver coin struck by the many independent states of the German-speaking world for over three centuries, and the direct linguistic ancestor of the word 'dollar.'
European
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
Western Satrap Silver Drachm
A silver drachm of the Western Satraps, Saka rulers of western India, easily identified by a crude Greek-style portrait obverse and a three-arched hill reverse.
Ancient
Two Pound Coin
The UK's bimetallic £2 coin, standardized for circulation in the late 1990s, widely used for a rotating series of commemorative reverse designs.
British
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
Half Groat
A small hammered silver coin worth half the value of the groat, or two pence, struck across three centuries of English coinage from the reign of Edward III through the Stuart era.
British
Flowing Hair Half Dime
One of the earliest United States silver coins, the Flowing Hair Half Dime was struck only in 1794 and 1795 and is a landmark rarity for early American coinage collectors.
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
1794 Flowing Hair Half Dime
One of the very first silver coins struck for circulation by the United States Mint, bearing the Flowing Hair Liberty design and a small eagle reverse.
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
Twenty Pence
A seven-sided UK coin introduced in 1982 to fill a gap between the ten pence and fifty pence denominations.
British
Bavaria Thaler
The historic large silver coin of Bavaria, struck across centuries by its electors and kings, capturing the state's political and artistic history until Germany's currency unification in the 1870s.
European
Vermont Copper
Copper coinage struck under authority of the independent Vermont Republic in the 1780s, featuring an early landscape design and later a Britannia-style type.
United States
Persian Gold Toman (Qajar)
The principal gold coin of Qajar Persia, valued at ten silver kran, struck under a succession of shahs from the late 18th century until the dynasty's end in 1925.
Asian
Ethiopian Birr (Menelik II)
Silver birr introduced by Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia, modeled on the weight and fineness of the Maria Theresa thaler, featuring his crowned bust and the Lion of Judah.
Africa & Oceania
Saxon Speciestaler
Full-weight silver taler issued by the Electors and later Kings of Saxony, distinguished from lesser-value "current" talers used for everyday commerce.
European
Japanese 1 Yen Silver Coin
Japan's principal large silver coin of the Meiji era, featuring a coiled dragon, that became a major East Asian trade coin and a symbol of Japan's rapid currency modernization.
Asian
1969-S Doubled Die Obverse Lincoln Cent
A famous and dramatic doubled die obverse Lincoln cent from the San Francisco Mint, showing strong, easily visible doubling and ranking among the most valuable Lincoln cent doubled die varieties.
Errors & Varieties