Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Kushan Gold Dinar
Gold coin of the Kushan Empire modeled on the Roman aureus standard, notable for depicting a rich blend of Greek, Iranian, Indian, and Buddhist deities on its reverse.
Ancient
Presidential Dollar - Thomas Jefferson
The third coin in the Presidential Dollar series, honoring Thomas Jefferson, sharing the same edge-lettering format and Statue of Liberty reverse as the earliest issues in the program.
United States
Presidential Dollar - Abraham Lincoln
A Presidential Dollar honoring Abraham Lincoln, released in 2010 during the bicentennial period of his birth, featuring his portrait and the series' distinctive incused edge lettering.
United States
Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle
Widely regarded as one of the most beautiful U.S. coins ever produced, designed by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens at the urging of President Theodore Roosevelt.
United States
German 5 Mark Silver (Kaiserreich)
The 5 Mark was the largest circulating silver coin of the German Empire, issued by numerous constituent states and free cities, each with its own portrait or design under a common imperial system.
European
Trajan Denarius
The silver coin of Emperor Trajan, whose reign marked the Roman Empire's greatest territorial extent, with coin types celebrating his Dacian conquests and vast building program.
Ancient
Marcus Aurelius Denarius
The silver coin of the philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius, struck during years of war and plague, reflecting a reign celebrated for its Stoic ideals amid crisis.
Ancient
Postumus Antoninianus
Radiate coin of Postumus, the general who broke away from Rome to found the separatist Gallic Empire covering Gaul, Britain, Germania, and Hispania during the Crisis of the Third Century.
Ancient
Nero Sestertius
A large bronze/brass coin of Nero widely admired for exceptional artistry, including famous reverse scenes of the Port of Ostia and the closed Temple of Janus.
Ancient
Nero Denarius
The silver coin of the notorious emperor Nero, whose AD 64 currency reform slightly reduced the denarius's silver content and weight, a step in the long history of Roman debasement.
Ancient
Hadrian Denarius
The silver coin of Emperor Hadrian, famous for its extensive 'travel series' honoring the provinces he visited during his unusually extensive tours of the empire.
Ancient
Vespasian Denarius
The silver coin of Emperor Vespasian, founder of the Flavian dynasty, notably including the famous 'Judaea Capta' series commemorating Rome's suppression of the Jewish revolt.
Ancient
Augustus Denarius
The main silver coin of Rome's first emperor, Augustus, whose long reign established the imperial monetary system that would last for centuries.
Ancient
Constantine the Great Follis
A bronze coin of Constantine the Great, the emperor who legalized Christianity and founded Constantinople, struck at numerous mints across a transforming empire.
Ancient
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
Guptas 'Horseman' Silver Coin
Silver coin of the Gupta Empire showing the king on horseback, struck after Gupta conquest of western India in imitation of earlier Western Kshatrapa silver coinage.
Ancient
Ottoman Kurus (Piastre)
The standard Ottoman monetary unit for centuries, struck in silver or base metal bearing the sultan's tughra, later becoming a subunit of the Ottoman lira after 1844.
World
Ottoman Para
A small fractional Ottoman coin, historically 1/40 of a kurus, struck for centuries in varying metals as the empire's lowest everyday denomination.
World
Ottoman Gold 500 Kurus (Abdulhamid II)
A substantial gold coin struck under Sultan Abdulhamid II, equal to five Ottoman lira, bearing his tughra and used both for circulation and as a store of wealth.
World
Ottoman Silver Akce
A tiny silver coin that served as the basic everyday currency unit of the Ottoman Empire for centuries, gradually shrinking in size and silver content as inflation took hold.
World
Ottoman Gold Sultani
The principal gold trade coin of the early Ottoman Empire, struck to match the weight and fineness of the Venetian ducat so it could compete in Mediterranean commerce.
World
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
Byzantine Gold Solidus
The gold standard coin of the Byzantine Empire for over 700 years, prized in medieval trade as far away as India and Scandinavia under the nickname "bezant."
Ancient
Byzantine Gold Semissis
A scarce half-value gold fraction of the Byzantine solidus, struck in smaller numbers than the tremissis and often associated with ceremonial or donative purposes.
Ancient