Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Liberty Cap Half Cent
The first design used on the U.S. half cent, struck from 1793 to 1797, showing Liberty wearing a soft cap on the obverse and a wreath on the reverse.
United States
Persian Gold Daric
The standard gold coin of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, depicting the Persian Great King as a running or kneeling archer, used widely to pay soldiers and mercenaries.
Ancient
Portuguese Real
Portugal's centuries-old pre-decimal currency unit, used from the medieval era until the 1911 introduction of the escudo, also struck for Brazil and other colonies.
European
1860 Indian Head Cent (Oak Wreath)
The redesigned Indian Head cent introducing the oak wreath and shield reverse that would remain in use, with only a metal change in 1864, through the end of the series in 1909.
United States
Cuba Peso 'Star' Silver (ABC Peso)
A silver dollar-sized Cuban peso featuring a prominent five-pointed star, popularly nicknamed the 'ABC Peso' and widely used interchangeably with the US silver dollar in the 1930s.
Latin American
1794 Flowing Hair Cent
An early United States large copper cent from the first years of the Mint, associated with the Flowing Hair Liberty portrait used on the nation's earliest coinage.
United States
1815 Capped Bust Quarter
The first quarter struck since 1807, the 1815 issue introduced John Reich's Capped Bust design in the large-diameter format used through 1828.
United States
Liberty Cap Large Cent
An early United States copper cent showing Liberty with a pole and pileus (liberty cap) over her shoulder, the third cent design used in the Mint's first years.
United States
Egyptian 10 Piastres (silver)
A workhorse silver coin of Khedival, Sultanate, and Kingdom-era Egypt, one-tenth of a pound and commonly found in worn circulated grades from decades of daily use.
Africa & Oceania
Ottoman Gold 500 Kurus (Abdulhamid II)
A substantial gold coin struck under Sultan Abdulhamid II, equal to five Ottoman lira, bearing his tughra and used both for circulation and as a store of wealth.
World
Canadian Palladium Maple Leaf
The Royal Canadian Mint's palladium bullion coin, sharing the Maple Leaf design used across Canada's precious metal series, produced intermittently since 2005.
Bullion
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
Thailand (Siam) Silver Baht 'Bullet Money' (Pod Duang)
Distinctive bent-bar silver currency used in Siam for centuries, hand-formed into a bullet-like shape and stamped with royal marks in place of a flat coin design.
Asian
1793 Liberty Cap Half Cent
The first-year half cent, struck in 1793 with a distinctive 'Head Facing Left' Liberty Cap design used only that single year before the design was revised.
United States
Spanish 2 Reales Pillar
The Pillar 2 Reales was a fractional Spanish colonial silver coin featuring the famous Pillars of Hercules design, struck at mints across Spanish America and widely used in international trade.
Latin American
English Angel
A gold coin depicting the Archangel Michael slaying a dragon, issued for nearly two centuries and later famous for its use as a royal 'touch-piece' for the healing ceremony of the King's Evil.
British
Matte Proof Lincoln Cent
A special proof finish used on Lincoln cents from 1909 to 1916, featuring a fine, sandy, non-reflective surface instead of the mirror-like brilliance of earlier proof coins.
United States
1943 Copper Lincoln Cent
An extremely rare mint error where a handful of 1943 cents were struck on leftover bronze planchets instead of the wartime steel used that year, making it one of the most famous US coin errors.
Errors & Varieties
Qatar and Dubai Riyal
A short-lived joint currency issued for Qatar and Dubai between 1966 and 1973, created to replace the Gulf Rupee and used until each formed its own separate national currency.
Asian
1900-O/CC Morgan Dollar
A well-known Morgan dollar overmintmark variety showing an O mintmark punched over a CC, created when a leftover Carson City die was repurposed and repunched for use at New Orleans.
Errors & Varieties
India Gold Pagoda (Madras Presidency)
Small gold coin traditionally used across South India, later adopted and standardized by the East India Company's Madras Presidency before being phased out for rupee-based currency.
Asian
Islamic Silver Dirham (Abbasid)
The standard silver coin of the Abbasid Caliphate, continuing the text-only Kufic script tradition and widely used across a vast medieval trade network stretching from Europe to Central Asia.
Ancient
British Sovereign (modern proof)
Contemporary proof-quality gold sovereign struck by the Royal Mint, continuing Benedetto Pistrucci's St George and the dragon reverse design used since the early 19th century.
British
Argentine Argentino Gold (5 Pesos)
Argentina's principal 19th-century gold coin, worth 5 pesos oro and called an "Argentino," struck to Latin Monetary Union weight standards for use in international trade.
Latin American