Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Bangladesh One Taka
A small nickel-plated steel coin of Bangladesh worth one Taka, showing a jute plant with stars on the obverse and the numeral 1 with Bengali text and date on the reverse.
South Asia
Roman As/Dupondius (Uncertain)
An uncertain Roman bronze As or Dupondius: a double-faced Janus head on one side and a ship (galley/prow) with ROMA below on the other.
Ancient
Sestertius of Vespasian (Iudaea Capta)
Large Roman bronze sestertius of Vespasian (AD 70–71) marking the conquest of Judaea, with a palm tree and mourning captives on the reverse.
Ancient
Half Sovereign
A small British 22-carat gold coin worth ten shillings; this example shows Queen Victoria's veiled, crowned Jubilee Head portrait and is dated 1887.
World Coins
500 Yen Bicolor Clad
Japan's large two-tone 500 yen circulation coin, with a floral blossom design and pearl-like beading on one face and bold value numerals on the other.
Circulation
Irish Gun Money Shilling
A base-metal Irish emergency shilling struck for James II in 1689-1690, with his laureate bust and a crowned reverse dated by month, here October 1689.
Emergency Coinage
Indonesia 200 Rupiah
A lightweight aluminium Indonesian 200-rupiah coin: the Garuda Pancasila emblem on one side and a perched Bali Starling (Jalak Bali) with the value 200 on the other.
Southeast Asia
Aratame Sanbu Sadame
A round silver-colored coin with a coiled dragon and the inscription Aratame Sanbu Sadame on one face and a radiating sun on the other, dated 1859.
Historic
Groat of William IV
A small silver fourpenny piece of William IV (1836–1837), with a seated Britannia reverse; the coin that revived the modern British groat.
Milled
100 Yen (Showa Silver)
Japan's first 100 Yen coin, in silver: a phoenix in flight on the obverse and a bold radiating 100 on the reverse. Dated Showa 33 (1958).
Circulation
Maundy One Penny
The smallest British Maundy silver coin, bearing a crowned Roman numeral I; this example was struck in 1687 under James II.
Maundy
Ceylon 5 Rupees Buddhism Anniversary
Ceylon's 1957 silver five rupees marking 2,500 years of Buddhism, with an ornate 2500 device amid mythological creatures and a scrolled RUPEES reverse.
South Asia
Schaummünze 4 Thaler
A silver Schaummünze struck to a 4-Thaler weight, dated 1666, with elaborate heraldic and figural imagery referencing August der Jüngere.
Medal
Kennedy Half Dollar
U.S. fifty-cent piece introduced in 1964 to honor President John F. Kennedy; the first-year 1964 coins were struck in 90% silver.
United States
Quarter Merk
A small hammered silver coin of Scotland worth a quarter of a merk, showing a crowned heraldic shield with a cross and a Latin legend.
Hammered
Laurel
A hammered English gold coin of James I worth twenty shillings, named for the king's laurel-wreathed profile, struck 1619-1625.
Hammered
Israel 10 Lirot
Israel's 1968 silver 10 Lirot, struck for the 20th anniversary of independence, pairing a menorah emblem with a view of Jerusalem.
World
American Plantations Token
A 1688 tin token struck under James II for England's American colonies, valued at 1/24 of a Spanish real — the first regal-authorized coinage for British America.
Colonial
Keicho Koban
A thin oval Japanese gold coin worth one ryo, its surface covered in fine parallel striations with stamped cartouches and Goto mint marks.
Historic
Kenya 10 Shillings
A modern bimetallic circulating coin of the Republic of Kenya bearing President Jomo Kenyatta on the obverse and the national coat of arms on the reverse.
World
Victoria Maundy Fourpence
A tiny sterling-silver ceremonial coin from a royal Maundy set. This 1889 example shows Victoria's crowned Jubilee Head and a crowned '4' in a wreath.
British Isles
Cape Verde 5 Escudos
A small brass-toned Cape Verde circulation coin whose botanical face depicts the endemic Campanula jacobaea flower with legends around the rim.
World
Eighth Thistle Merk
A small hammered silver Scottish coin of James VI, showing a crowned heraldic shield of arms on one side and a crowned thistle on the other.
Hammered
Capped Head Half Eagle
A U.S. five-dollar gold coin struck 1813–1834, showing a left-facing capped Liberty with stars and a heraldic eagle bearing a shield and E PLURIBUS UNUM.
United States