Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
U.S. Gold Five Dollar (Half Eagle)
Modern U.S. $5 gold coin: Saint-Gaudens striding Liberty with torch on the obverse and a soaring eagle reverse; this piece is dated 1987.
Us
Barbados 25 Cents
A copper-nickel Caribbean circulation coin of Barbados; the 1998 example shows the national coat of arms on the obverse and the 25-cent value on the reverse.
Circulation
Spanish Colonial Cob 1 Real
A small, crudely hand-struck silver cob of one real, made in Spain's American colonies with heraldic shield-and-cross designs.
Cob Coinage
Susan B. Anthony Dollar
U.S. small-size copper-nickel clad dollar coin (1979–1981, 1999) featuring suffragist Susan B. Anthony and an eagle landing on the moon.
Dollar
Spanish Colonial 4 Reales
A large silver colonial coin worth half a Spanish dollar, struck for Spain's American empire and bearing the crowned Spanish royal arms.
Colonial
India Four Anna
An early Republic of India quarter rupee (four annas) of 1950, showing the Ashoka Lion Capital emblem with radiating rays and the country name INDIA.
Modern India
British Farthing
Small copper farthing of King George II, with his laureate bust facing left and a seated Britannia on the reverse; struck in the 1730s.
British Isles
Disarmament Commemorative Ruble
A 1988 Soviet copper-nickel commemorative ruble marking the US-Soviet treaty that scrapped intermediate- and shorter-range nuclear missiles.
World Coins
Una and the Lion Five Pounds
William Wyon's 1839 gold Five Pounds pairs a young Queen Victoria with Una guiding a lion — widely praised as one of the most beautiful British coins ever struck.
British Isles
Medieval Silver Cut Farthing
A quarter of a medieval silver penny, physically cut along the reverse cross to make small change before round farthings became common.
British Isles
Austria-Hungary 1/4 Kreuzer
A small copper 1/4 Kreuzer of the Austrian Empire dated 1816, showing Emperor Franz I in crowned right-facing profile.
Circulation
Thebes Stater
Silver stater of Thebes with the Boeotian shield and a bearded head of Dionysos, struck as federal coinage of the Boeotian League, c. 395-338 BC.
Ancient
Liberia One Cent
An early copper cent tied to Liberia's founding, dated 1847, with a profile portrait obverse and warm brown patina.
World
Trinidad and Tobago 25 Cents
A copper-nickel 25-cent coin of Trinidad and Tobago: a leafy national-flower plant design on one face and the value TWENTY FIVE CENTS on the other.
Circulation
Spanish Colonial Cob 2 Reales
A crude hand-struck silver cob worth a quarter of a piece of eight, showing a cross on one side and the Habsburg Spanish arms on the other.
Cob Coinage
South Africa Farthing
The smallest bronze coin of the Union of South Africa, a quarter-penny with a crowned royal portrait and a South African bird reverse.
World
German East Africa 1/4 Rupie
A small colonial silver coin of German East Africa, inscribed DEUTSCH OSTAFRIKA and 1/4 RUPIE within a wreath, paired with the imperial eagle.
World
Maria Theresa Thaler
A large silver Austrian trade coin bearing the bust of Empress Maria Theresa, famously frozen at the date 1780 and restruck for centuries.
World
Solidus of Theodosius I
A late Roman gold solidus struck for the emperor Theodosius I (AD 379-395), showing his diademed portrait and the legend D N THEODOSIVS AVG.
Ancient
Penny of Alfred the Great
Hand-struck silver penny of Alfred the Great of Wessex, showing a right-facing royal bust and a cross-based reverse with a moneyer's inscription.
Medieval Coins
Alexander the Great Gold Stater
Gold stater struck in the name of Alexander the Great, with a helmeted Athena obverse and Nike holding a wreath on the reverse; this example c. 323-315 BC.
Ancient
Denarius of the Pompeia Family
Silver Roman Republican denarius of the Pompeia family, with a male portrait head and a Victory driving a chariot on the reverse.
Ancient
Denarius of Faustina the Elder
A silver Roman denarius honoring Faustina the Elder, wife of Antoninus Pius, with her draped bust and a seated Fortuna reverse, struck c. 141–161 AD.
Ancient
Crown of the Double Rose
A hammered Tudor gold crown of Henry VIII, valued at five shillings and named for the crowned double Tudor rose that defines its design.
Hammered