Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
German Prussia 20 Mark Gold
The standard gold coin of Prussia within the newly unified German Empire, featuring successive Prussian kings and forming a key part of the empire's gold mark system.
European
Half Guinea
Smaller companion gold coin to the guinea, worth half its value, struck across the same reigns from Charles II through George III for mid-value transactions.
British
Turban Head Eagle
The first U.S. $10 gold coin, struck 1795-1804 and nicknamed 'Turban Head' for Liberty's cap-like headdress; the earliest examples pair her portrait with a small, spread-winged eagle.
United States
Costa Rica 2 Colones Gold
A small gold denomination from Costa Rica's early colon-era coinage, part of a family of gold coins (2, 5, 10, and 20 colones) struck around the turn of the twentieth century.
Latin American
2008 Hawaii State Quarter
The final release of the 50 State Quarters Program, honoring Hawaii with an image of King Kamehameha I extending his hand over the Hawaiian islands.
United States
1921 Peace Dollar (High Relief)
The debut issue of the Peace dollar, struck in dramatic high relief that proved difficult to mint, commemorating peace after World War I.
United States
Austrian 20 Corona Gold
A compact gold coin of the Austro-Hungarian Empire depicting Emperor Franz Joseph I, widely available today as an accessible historic gold piece.
European
Isabella Quarter
The only U.S. commemorative quarter dollar, struck for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and featuring Queen Isabella I of Spain, sponsor of Columbus's voyage.
Commemorative
Byzantine Follis
The large bronze workhorse coin of everyday Byzantine commerce, reformed by Emperor Anastasius I in 498 AD with a prominent Greek numeral denoting its value of 40 nummi.
Ancient
Groat (Fourpence)
A historic English silver coin worth four pence, first struck under Edward I in 1279 and periodically revived, later surviving mainly as a Maundy Money denomination.
British
Byzantine Electrum Aspron Trachy (Scyphate)
A distinctive cup-shaped Byzantine coin struck in electrum after Alexios I Komnenos's currency reform, featuring religious imagery and a concave scyphate flan.
Ancient
Standing Liberty Quarter
An early 20th-century silver quarter featuring a striding figure of Liberty, prized for its artistic Type I 'bare breast' design and later modified Type II version.
United States
US Peace Dollar
Silver dollar issued starting in 1921 to commemorate peace after World War I, featuring a radiant Liberty head and an eagle resting on a mountain with an olive branch.
United States
Demetrios Poliorketes Nike Tetradrachm
A Hellenistic silver tetradrachm of Demetrios I of Macedon, celebrated for its obverse image of Nike standing on a ship's prow, commemorating his naval victory at Salamis in Cyprus.
Ancient
1921 Mercury Dime
A key date of the Mercury dime series, struck in unusually low numbers amid a post-World War I economic slowdown that reduced coinage demand nationwide.
United States
Belgian 5 Francs
A large silver crown of the newly independent Kingdom of Belgium, bearing the portrait of Leopold I or Leopold II and the national coat of arms, a flagship coin of the young nation's currency.
European
Quarter Guinea
A rarely issued small gold coin worth one-quarter of a guinea, struck only in 1718 under George I and again briefly in 1762 under George III.
British
Peace Silver Dollar
Silver dollar issued to commemorate peace after World War I, succeeding the Morgan dollar in 1921 with a striking Art Deco Liberty portrait and eagle-on-rock reverse.
United States
Rosa Americana Coinage
A British-issued colonial coinage for America under a patent granted to William Wood, showing a rose and King George I, that was widely rejected by colonists for its poor metal and overvaluation.
United States
French Napoleon 20 Francs Gold
France's standard 19th-century gold coin, first struck under Napoleon I and continued under later rulers and the Republic, giving rise to the enduring nickname "Napoleon" for any 20-franc gold coin.
European
Brazilian 960 Reis Silver
A silver crown-sized coin struck in Brazil under Prince Regent João and later Pedro I, famous for often being overstruck directly on circulating Spanish colonial 8-reales pieces.
Latin American
Half Angel (Angelet)
A small English gold coin worth half the value of the Angel, sharing its famous design of the Archangel Michael slaying a dragon, issued across several reigns from Edward IV to James I.
British
Byzantine Gold Histamenon Nomisma
A distinctive concave (cup-shaped) Byzantine gold coin introduced in the 10th century as the full-weight companion to the flat tetarteron nomisma.
Ancient
Mexican Balanza Silver Peso (1957-1967)
The last circulating silver peso of Mexico, struck in a much-reduced silver alloy through the 1960s before Mexico moved fully to base-metal coinage.
Latin American