Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Pound Coin
The United Kingdom's £1 coin, introduced in 1983 to replace the paper pound note, redesigned as a 12-sided bimetallic coin in 2017.
British
1965-1970 Kennedy Half Dollar (40% Silver)
Kennedy half dollars struck with a reduced 40% silver clad composition after the Coinage Act of 1965, bridging the gap between full silver coinage and today's copper-nickel clad coins.
United States
1 Euro Coin
The standard circulating one-euro coin used across the Eurozone since 2002, bimetallic with a gold-colored center and silver-colored ring, and a national obverse that varies by issuing country.
European
Japanese Nishu-kin (gold coin)
Small rectangular gold coin from Tokugawa Japan valued at two shu, or one-eighth of a ryo, part of a fractional gold denomination system unique to Edo-period currency.
Asian
2000 Sydney Olympics Coin Series
The Royal Australian Mint issued one of the largest circulating commemorative coin programs ever produced for a single Olympics, featuring numerous $5 designs alongside premium silver and gold proof coins for the Sydney 2000 Games.
Commemorative
Chinese Cash Coin (Qing Dynasty 'Kangxi Tongbao')
Classic cast bronze cash coin bearing the reign title of Emperor Kangxi, struck across many provincial mints during one of the longest reigns in Chinese history.
Asian
1921 Fifty Cents (King of Canadian Coins)
Canada's most famous rarity, the 1921 fifty-cent piece survives in only a small number of known examples after most of its mintage was melted, earning it the nickname King of Canadian Coins.
Canadian
Canadian Loonie
Canada's eleven-sided one dollar coin, introduced in 1987 with a common loon on the reverse, giving rise to its popular nickname.
Canadian
New Zealand Lord of the Rings Coins (2003)
New Zealand issued legal-tender coins featuring characters and scenes from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy, celebrating the films' production in the country with both a circulating dollar and premium collector coins.
Commemorative
Laurel
A gold twenty-shilling coin issued from 1619, named for its laureate royal portrait styled after Roman emperors, replacing the earlier Unite as James I's principal gold denomination.
British
Unite
A gold twenty-shilling coin introduced by James I in 1604 to celebrate the union of the English and Scottish crowns, its name literally symbolizing the joining of the two kingdoms.
British
Canadian Toonie
Canada's bimetallic two dollar coin, introduced in 1996 with a polar bear reverse, whose nickname blends "two" with "loonie."
Canadian
Dutch Lion Daalder (Leeuwendaalder)
A silver trade coin of the Dutch Republic showing an armored knight and a rampant lion, exported in vast quantities to the Levant, Russia, and the American colonies.
European
Netherlands Lion Daalder (Leeuwendaalder)
A large silver trade coin of the Dutch provinces showing a knight and a rampant lion, widely circulated in colonial North America and the Ottoman world as the prototype 'lion dollar.'
European
Netherlands Rijksdaalder
A historic large silver crown-sized coin of the Low Countries, the rijksdaalder became a trusted trade coin across Europe for centuries and lent its name to the modern Dutch 2½-guilder piece.
European
Spanish Colonial 8 Reales Ferdinand VII
A large silver 8 reales coin struck across Spain's American colonies bearing the portrait of King Ferdinand VII, widely circulated internationally and historically linked to the origin of the US dollar sign.
World
1796 Draped Bust Quarter
The very first quarter dollar struck by the United States Mint, a one-year type coin with a tiny mintage that is treasured by collectors of early American silver.
United States
Gobrecht Dollar
A transitional silver dollar designed by Christian Gobrecht featuring a seated Liberty obverse and a flying eagle reverse, bridging older and newer designs in U.S. coinage.
United States
Decimal New Penny
The UK's smallest decimal coin, introduced on Decimal Day, 15 February 1971, inscribed "NEW PENNY" until 1982.
British
Ryal
A large Scottish silver coin issued under Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, nicknamed the 'sword dollar' for the crowned sword on its reverse.
British
Chinese Dragon Dollar
A coiled dragon dominates the reverse of these late Qing Dynasty silver dollars, struck by numerous Chinese provincial mints as China modernized its coinage using Western minting technology.
Asian
Spanish Colonial Cob 8 Reales (Macuquina)
A crudely hand-struck Spanish colonial silver coin, cut from irregular silver bars and stamped with a cross and shield, famed worldwide as the original 'piece of eight'.
Latin American
Philippine Peso (US Administration, 1903)
Silver one-peso coin struck for the Philippines under early American colonial administration, part of a new US-designed coinage system introduced in 1903.
Asian
American Gold Buffalo
The first 24-karat gold coin struck by the U.S. Mint, adapting James Earle Fraser's classic Buffalo Nickel design for a modern bullion product.
Bullion