Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Valerian Antoninianus
Radiate coin of Valerian, the only Roman emperor ever captured alive by a foreign enemy, taken prisoner by the Sassanid king Shapur I in 260 AD.
Ancient
Licinius Follis
Bronze follis of Licinius, the last rival emperor to challenge Constantine the Great before his defeat and the reunification of the Roman Empire under Constantinian rule in 324 AD.
Ancient
Galerius Follis
Reform-era bronze follis of Galerius, Caesar and later Augustus of the eastern Tetrarchy, remembered for early persecution of Christians and his later Edict of Toleration issued just before his death.
Ancient
Maximian Follis
Large bronze follis of Maximian, co-Augustus with Diocletian who ruled the western half of the empire as part of the Tetrarchy and shared the same reformed coinage design.
Ancient
Constantius II Centenionalis
A bronze centenionalis of Constantius II featuring the dramatic 'Fallen Horseman' reverse, one of the most famous designs of the Late Roman Empire.
Ancient
Constantine CONSTANTINOPOLIS Commemorative
A small bronze commemorative celebrating the founding of Constantinople, showing Victory standing on a ship's prow on the reverse.
Ancient
Constantine URBS ROMA Commemorative
A small bronze commemorative honoring the city of Rome with a helmeted Roma obverse and the iconic she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus on the reverse.
Ancient
Augustus Aureus Gaius and Lucius Caesar
One of the most common ancient gold coins, an Augustus aureus honoring his grandsons and intended heirs Gaius and Lucius Caesar, both of whom died young.
Ancient
Caligula Sestertius
A large brass sestertius of the notorious emperor Caligula, a scarce and historically fascinating coin due to his short, controversial reign and later condemnation.
Ancient
Claudius Denarius
A silver denarius of Emperor Claudius, whose unexpected rise to power after Caligula's assassination was famously secured with the support of the Praetorian Guard.
Ancient
Tiberius Tribute Penny Denarius
The famous silver denarius of Emperor Tiberius traditionally identified as the biblical 'Tribute Penny' from the New Testament's 'Render unto Caesar' episode.
Ancient
Lydian Croeseid (Croesus Stater)
One of history's earliest bimetallic coinages, struck under the legendary King Croesus of Lydia, featuring the confronting foreparts of a lion and a bull.
Ancient
Roman Denarius
The workhorse silver coin of ancient Rome for over four centuries, used across the Republic and Empire and one of the most widely collected categories of ancient coinage today.
Ancient
Magnentius Double Centenionalis
A large bronze coin of the usurper Magnentius featuring one of the earliest large Christian Chi-Rho symbols on Roman coinage.
Ancient
Valentinian I Solidus
A high-purity gold solidus of Valentinian I, founder of the Valentinianic dynasty, reflecting the stable gold standard established under Constantine.
Ancient
Julian II Bull Bronze
A large bronze maiorina of Julian the Apostate with a bull reverse, associated with his brief attempt to revive traditional pagan worship in Rome.
Ancient
Constantine Sol Invictus Follis
A common bronze follis of Constantine the Great honoring Sol Invictus, the radiate sun god, struck empire-wide before his turn toward Christianity.
Ancient
Trajan Sestertius
A large bronze coin of Trajan, whose reign brought the Roman Empire to its greatest territorial extent, with reverses celebrating Dacian conquest, public works, and Trajan's Column.
Ancient
Faustina the Elder Denarius
Posthumous silver denarius honoring Faustina the Elder, wife of Antoninus Pius, struck for two decades after her death and deification in 140/141 AD.
Ancient
Aurelian Antoninianus
Radiate coin of Aurelian, the soldier-emperor who reunited the fractured Roman Empire and enacted a major coinage reform introducing standardized silver content marked with XXI or KA.
Ancient
Probus Antoninianus
Radiate coin of Probus, a capable soldier-emperor who defended the frontiers against Germanic incursions and issued coinage noted for elaborate consular and military portrait styles.
Ancient
Maximinus Thrax Denarius
Silver denarius of Maximinus Thrax, the first Roman emperor risen from the common soldiery rather than the senatorial class, ruling amid the onset of the Crisis of the Third Century.
Ancient
Elagabalus Denarius
Silver denarius of the teenage Syrian priest-emperor Elagabalus, whose brief, scandal-ridden reign is reflected in unusual reverse types tied to his sun-god cult.
Ancient
Caracalla Antoninianus
The first antoninianus coins, introduced by Caracalla in 215 AD as a debased double-denarius identified by the emperor's radiate crown.
Ancient