Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Capped Bust Quarter Eagle
A one-year U.S. gold $2.50 piece struck only in 1808, with John Reich's capped Liberty obverse and a heraldic eagle reverse. A classic rarity.
Quarter EagleAlexander 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.
AncientGold Stater of the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes
An Iron Age British gold stater of the Catuvellauni and Trinovantes, showing stylized wheat/barley ears on one face and a dynamic horse on the other.
AncientQuarter Angel of Elizabeth I
A small Elizabethan gold coin of the early 1580s showing a crowned portrait of the queen and a cross set with heraldic shields.
HammeredTurban Head Quarter Eagle
First U.S. $2.50 gold coin (1796), designed by Robert Scot; Liberty in a soft cap facing right with a heraldic eagle reverse. Extremely rare.
United StatesClassic Head Quarter Eagle
U.S. $2.50 gold coin struck 1834–1839, with a band-bound Liberty head obverse and a shield-breasted eagle reverse marked "2½ D."
Quarter EagleEdward IV Quarter Ryal
Small English medieval gold coin of Edward IV, bearing the crowned royal arms and an ornate radiate cross with a rose-on-sun at its center.
Medieval CoinsEdward III Quarter Noble
Small medieval English gold coin of Edward III, showing a crowned shield of arms on the obverse and an ornate floral cross design on the reverse.
Medieval CoinsPhilip III Gold Stater
A Macedonian gold stater struck under Philip III Arrhidaeus, half-brother of Alexander the Great, showing Heracles and an enthroned Zeus.
AncientStanding Liberty Quarter Centennial Gold
A 2016 U.S. quarter-dollar struck in 1/4 oz of .9999 fine gold, reviving Hermon MacNeil's Standing Liberty design for its 100th anniversary.
QuarterSesquicentennial of American Independence Quarter Eagle
A 1926 U.S. commemorative $2.50 gold coin marking 150 years of American independence, with Liberty holding a torch and scroll and Independence Hall on the reverse.
Classic CommemorativePanama-Pacific Exposition Quarter Eagle
A 1915 gold $2.50 commemorative for San Francisco's Panama-Pacific Exposition, showing Columbia astride a hippocamp and an eagle on the reverse.
Classic CommemorativeEast India Company Quarter Anna
Large copper 1/4 anna of the East India Company dated 1835, with a heraldic lion-and-shield obverse and a laurel-wreath reverse.
British IndiaPhilip II Gold Half Stater
Gold half stater of Philip II of Macedon, c. 359-336 BC, showing the head of Heracles and an eagle perched on a thunderbolt.
AncientGeorge IV One Quarter Spanish Dollar
An 1822 British colonial silver coin valued at one quarter of a Spanish dollar, part of the George IV "Anchor Money" issued for colonies in the Americas.
ColonialAnglo-Saxon Styca
A tiny base-metal coin of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, struck in the 8th-9th century with a head and inscription on one side and a cross on the other.
Medieval CoinsAthenian Owl Tetradrachm
Broad silver 'New Style' tetradrachm of Athens (c. 165-42 BC): helmeted Athena on the front, owl on an amphora within an olive wreath on the back.
Ancient CoinsBritish Decimal Half Penny
The smallest UK decimal coin, a tiny bronze half-penny introduced with decimalisation in 1971, bearing a crown reverse and the Machin portrait of Elizabeth II.
British IslesHoley Dollar
Australia's first struck coin: a Spanish silver dollar with its centre punched out, counterstamped NEW SOUTH WALES 1813 and revalued at five shillings.
AustralianRoman Quadrans
A small Roman bronze quadrans, worth a quarter of an as, here a heavily corroded piece with a laureate head facing right.
AncientWarring States Knife Coin
A cast bronze knife coin (dao bi) of China's Warring States period, shaped like a small blade with a ringed handle and cast inscriptions.
AncientMedieval 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 Isles10 Yen (Gold)
A Japanese gold 10 Yen of the Meiji era, its obverse a radiant chrysanthemum sunburst, its reverse a wreath framing imperial crests; dated Meiji 30 (1897).
CirculationIndia 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