Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Spanish Doubloon (8 Escudos)
Large Spanish gold coin worth eight escudos, showing the right-facing bust of King Charles IV and a crowned Spanish shield with a cross.
World Coins
Draped Bust Half Dollar
Early U.S. silver fifty-cent piece of 1796–1807. The pictured 1796 Small Eagle with 15 stars is among the rarest of all American coins.
Half Dollar
Duro (5 Pesetas)
A large .900 silver five-peseta crown struck under Spain's Provisional Government, with a profile head personifying Hispania and a crowned coat of arms reverse.
Modern
French Constitutional Ecu
A large 1792 French silver ecu of the constitutional monarchy, with a bust of Louis XVI and an allegorical figure of Liberty with fasces.
Revolutionary
Ecu of Louis XVI
A large French silver ecu of Louis XVI dated 1784: left-facing royal bust obverse, crowned arms of France and Navarre framed by laurel on the reverse.
Royal
French Indochina Piastre
A 1928 silver piastre of French Indochina, its obverse showing seated Liberty with torch and laurel, its reverse reading UNION INDOCHINE FRANÇAISE in a floral wreath.
Southeast Asia
Spanish Colonial Half Real
The smallest milled silver coin of Spain's American empire: a tiny 1/2 real with a royal bust and the crowned arms between pillars.
Colonial
20 Reales (Isabel II)
Crown-sized Spanish silver 20 Reales of Queen Isabel II, with her crowned right-facing profile and a crowned pillared shield, dated 1854.
Modern
Venezuelan Silver Coin (1879)
An 1879 Venezuelan silver coin: the left-facing head of Simón Bolívar on one side and the national coat of arms in a wreath on the other.
Circulation
American Plantations Token
A 1688 tin token struck under James II for England's American colonies, valued at 1/24 of a Spanish real — the first regal-authorized coinage for British America.
Colonial
Constitutional Ecu
A French silver ecu of the constitutional-monarchy era showing King Louis XVI on the obverse and a standing armed Liberty figure on the reverse, dated 1792.
Revolutionary
Macao 20 Patacas
A silver 20 patacas of Portuguese-administered Macau: the Portuguese coat of arms on one face and a harbor scene with a Chinese junk on the other.
Circulation
8 Reales (Portrait/Bust Type)
Large silver Spanish Empire dollar showing the bust of King Carlos III and a crowned coat of arms with lions and castles.
World Coins
1 Escudo
Portugal's first silver escudo, struck in 1910 to mark the founding of the Republic, with an allegorical female head and the crowned national shield.
Modern
French Half Ecu (Demi-Ecu)
A silver half ecu of Louis XVI dated 1792, with his bust left and a standing winged genius reverse reading L'AN 4 DE LA LIBERTE.
Royal
Spanish Colonial 1 Real (Bourbon)
A small silver coin of Spain's American colonies from the early Bourbon era, showing a cross with ornaments on one side and the crowned royal arms on the other.
Colonial
Old Spanish Trail Half Dollar
A 1935 U.S. silver commemorative half dollar marking 400 years of the Old Spanish Trail, with a longhorn cow's head punning on explorer Cabeza de Vaca.
Classic Commemorative
Henri V Five Francs
An 1831 French five-franc piece struck for the Legitimist pretender Henri V, showing his young profile and the royal fleur-de-lis shield.
World
France 1 Euro
France's bimetallic 1 euro coin, with a stylized leafy tree inside a hexagon on the national side and the euro value with a map of Europe on the common side.
Euro
Louis d'Or Coin Weight
A French bronze monetary weight (poids monétaire) made to check the weight of a gold Louis d'Or, not a coin itself but a money-changer's balance weight.
Coin Weight
500 Yen Niigata Prefecture Commemorative
A modern Japanese 500 Yen commemorative for Niigata Prefecture, showing a traditional ship that celebrates the region's maritime and port heritage.
Commemorative
Bhutan 500 Ngultrum Commemorative
Modern Bhutanese silver commemorative dated 2008, with a portrait of King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and an ornate dragon-and-mythical-creature reverse.
Himalayan
500 Yen Japanese Immigration Commemorative
A 2008 Japanese 500 yen commemorative marking 100 years of Japanese immigration to Brazil, with two figures on one side and a ship on the other.
Commemorative
Roman Denarius
A small hammered silver coin of ancient Rome, showing an emperor's portrait and abbreviated Latin titles on one side and a deity or figure on the other.
Ancient