Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Ilkhanid Dirham of Ghazan
A silver dirham of the Mongol Ilkhanate struck for Ghazan Khan, with an ornamental cartouche bearing the ruler's name and concentric Arabic and Persian inscriptions.
Islamic (Medieval)
Shilling of Victoria
A milled sterling-silver British shilling of Queen Victoria, worth twelvepence, with the queen's head on the obverse and a crowned 'ONE SHILLING' reverse.
Milled
Shilling of Charles I
A hammered silver English shilling of King Charles I, showing his crowned left-facing profile with the value mark XII and a quartered royal shield.
World Coins
Gold Dinar of Ahmad ibn Tulun
A late-9th-century Islamic gold dinar of the Tulunid ruler Ahmad ibn Tulun, its faces filled with concentric Arabic inscriptions and dated AH 268 (881–882 CE).
Islamic (Medieval)
Bill of Rights Silver Dollar
A 1993 U.S. silver dollar honoring the bicentennial of the Bill of Rights, showing a Liberty figure with torch and flags and an eagle above Montpelier.
Modern Commemorative
Gold Dinar of Alp Arslan
A hand-struck Islamic gold coin of the Great Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan, covered in concentric Arabic inscriptions naming the ruler and caliph, AH 455–465.
Islamic
Gold Dinar of Al-Walid I
An early Islamic gold dinar struck under the Umayyad caliph al-Walid I (705-715 CE), bearing only Arabic Kufic inscriptions and no images on either face.
Islamic (Medieval)
Akçe
The akçe was the tiny silver coin at the heart of the early Ottoman economy, struck with Arabic-script inscriptions and no portrait or figural imagery.
Medieval
Dirham of Kamal al-Dawla Gharib
Silver dirham from 10th-century Iraq/Mesopotamia naming the ruler Gharib with the honorific Kamal al-Dawla, struck with Kufic Arabic legends.
Medieval Islamic
Gold Dinar of Abd al-Malik
An early Umayyad gold dinar of Caliph Abd al-Malik, the 'Standing Caliph' type, bearing a robed standing figure and Arabic religious inscriptions.
Islamic (Medieval)
Dirham of Qirwash ibn al-Muqallad
Silver dirham struck under the Uqaylid amir Qirwash ibn al-Muqallad of Mosul, dated 393 AH (1003 CE), with three-line Arabic legends.
Medieval Islamic
Dirham of Hasan ibn Zayd
A 9th-century Islamic silver dirham struck for Hasan ibn Zayd, the Alid ruler of Tabaristan, bearing concentric Arabic religious and authority legends.
Islamic (Medieval)
Battle of Antietam Half Dollar
A 1937 U.S. silver half dollar marking 75 years since the Civil War Battle of Antietam, with jugate busts of Lee and McClellan and Burnside Bridge on the reverse.
Classic Commemorative
Gold Dinar of Malik Shah I
A hand-struck Seljuk gold dinar naming Malik Shah I (r. 1072–1092), covered in Arabic inscriptions with the ruler's titles and genealogy and an ornamental cartouche.
Islamic (Medieval)
Medal of Honor Commemorative Half Eagle
US 2011 gold $5 commemorative honoring the Medal of Honor, showing the Army version of the medal above a Corinthian column.
Commemoratives
Thebes Stater
Silver stater of Thebes with the Boeotian shield and a bearded head of Dionysos, struck as federal coinage of the Boeotian League, c. 395-338 BC.
Ancient
Gold Dinar of Abu'l-Fawaris Ahmad (Buyid)
A hand-struck gold dinar of the Iranian Buyid dynasty, naming the emir Abu'l-Fawaris Ahmad and dated AH 358, covered entirely in Kufic Arabic with no imagery.
Islamic (Medieval)
India 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
Library of Congress Bicentennial Silver Dollar
A 2000 U.S. silver dollar honoring the 200th anniversary of the Library of Congress, with a 'We the People' quill-and-scroll obverse and the Library facade on the reverse.
Modern Commemorative
Una and the Lion Five Pounds
William Wyon's 1839 gold Five Pounds pairs a young Queen Victoria with Una guiding a lion — widely praised as one of the most beautiful British coins ever struck.
British Isles
Sesquicentennial 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 Commemorative
Kenya 1 Shilling
A circulating one-shilling coin of the Republic of Kenya bearing President Jomo Kenyatta on the obverse and the Kenyan coat of arms on the reverse.
World
French Cérès 5 Francs
A large silver French 5 francs showing the head of Cérès, goddess of the harvest, wearing a liberty cap, with the republican motto LIBERTÉ ÉGALITÉ FRATERNITÉ.
Circulation
Atilia Denarius
Roman Republican silver denarius struck by a moneyer of the gens Atilia, with a helmeted head on the obverse and a deity or figure with the family name on the reverse.
Ancient