Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Gustav I Silver Coin
Early-Renaissance Swedish silver of Gustav I Vasa (r. 1523–1560), pairing a crowned armored royal bust with a crowned heraldic lion.
Medieval
Bronze Coin of Corinth (Augustan)
A Roman colonial bronze struck at Corinth during the reign of Augustus, showing a laureate imperial portrait; the example here has a badly corroded reverse.
Ancient
Coin Weight for Louis d'Or
A small bronze monetary weight used to verify a gold Louis d'Or on a balance, showing a worn royal profile and a heraldic reverse.
Token/weight
Qi State Knife Coin
A cast bronze knife-shaped coin of the ancient state of Qi, with Chinese characters running down the curved blade and a ringed handle terminal.
Ancient
Bronze Coin of Cleopatra VII
Ptolemaic bronze coin of Cleopatra VII of Egypt, 51-30 BC, showing her draped diademed bust in profile as sole named female ruler of the dynasty.
Ancient
Eric XIV Silver Coin
Silver coin of Eric XIV of Sweden (r. 1560–1568), showing his crowned profile portrait and a heraldic Vasa/Three Crowns reverse, struck c. 1565.
Medieval
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
British Britannia Silver Coin
A modern UK bullion coin in fine silver, carrying a face value of 2 Pounds and the classic seated figure of Britannia with shield and trident.
Bullion
Warring 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.
Ancient
10 Pahlavi Gold Coin
A large gold coin of Imperial Iran valued at ten Pahlavi, showing Mohammad Reza Shah on the obverse and the crowned Lion and Sun on the reverse.
Persia / Iran
Macao Silver Coin (1974)
A 1974 Macau silver coin marking the Macau-Taipa Bridge: a spanning bridge with a Chinese junk below, ringed by REPUBLICA PORTUGUESA and PONTE MACAU-TAIPA.
Circulation
Bronze Coin of Septimius Severus (Tyre)
Roman provincial bronze struck at Tyre (Phoenicia) under Septimius Severus, 193-211 AD, with the emperor's bust on the obverse and a temple or deity reverse.
Ancient
Syracuse Bronze Coin of Hiero II
Ancient Greek bronze of Syracuse struck under King Hieron II, c. 275-215 BC, bearing a Hellenistic profile head; a very common Sicilian city bronze.
Ancient
Chu State Ant-Nose Coin
A small cast bronze cowrie-shaped coin of the Chu state, bearing a face-like Chinese inscription in relief, nicknamed ant-nose or ghost-face money.
Ancient
American Liberty High Relief Gold Coin
A modern one-ounce, .9999 fine gold $100 coin from the US Mint's American Liberty series, struck in dramatic high relief with a contemporary Liberty and eagle design.
Bullion
Unidentified Silver Coin (Louis XV era)
An 18th-century French royal silver coin of the Louis XV era, showing a right-facing bust and a crowned fleur-de-lis shield; the exact denomination is not confirmed.
Royal
First Spouse Gold Coin (Alice Paul)
A 2012 half-ounce 24-karat gold coin from the U.S. Mint's First Spouse series honoring suffragist Alice Paul and the woman-suffrage movement.
Commemorative
3 Roubles (First All-Russian Coins)
Soviet 1982 commemorative 3 Roubles honoring the first all-Russian coins, showing three historical 18th-century Russian coins with the state emblem reverse.
Commemorative
Trinidad and Tobago 1 Dollar
A nickel-plated steel one-dollar coin of Trinidad and Tobago, carrying the national coat of arms and heraldic emblems, dated 2015.
Circulation
Nigeria 1 Naira
Nigeria's copper-nickel 1 Naira showing the nationalist Herbert Macaulay on the obverse and the national coat of arms on the reverse.
World
Gold Guinea
English gold coin of the Guinea denomination; the example shown bears the right-facing bust of Charles II with a crowned cruciform shield reverse dated 1668.
World Coins
Trinidad and Tobago Dollar
A Trinidad and Tobago one-dollar circulation coin dated 2015, showing the national coat of arms on the obverse and national emblems on the reverse.
Circulation
Egyptian 1 Pound
An Egyptian cupro-nickel 1 Pound commemorative marking World Food Day 1981, its reverse showing standing figures with wheat sheaves.
World
Libya 1 Dinar (Counterfeit)
A brass coin imitating Libyan 1 Dinar coinage, carrying Arabic legends and geometric ornament but identified as a counterfeit or non-official replica.
World