Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
1883 No Cents Liberty Head Nickel
The first-year Liberty Head Nickel design that omitted the word CENTS from the reverse, later infamous as the 'Racketeer Nickel' after being gold-plated and passed off as a five-dollar coin.
United States
Victoria Fifty Cents (half dollar)
Canada's silver fifty-cent piece struck under Queen Victoria from 1870 to 1901, featuring her portrait and a heraldic shield-and-wreath reverse.
Canadian
1922 Canadian Nickel Five Cents
The first year Canada's five-cent coin was struck in solid nickel rather than silver, introducing the beaver reverse design that would define the coin for decades.
Canadian
Coat of Arms Fifty Cents (Elizabeth II)
Canada's modern fifty-cent piece, showing the Canadian coat of arms on the reverse since 1959 under successive obverse portraits of Queen Elizabeth II and, later, King Charles III.
Canadian
Bronze Indian Head Cent
The bronze-alloy Indian Head cent struck from 1864 through 1909, replacing the earlier copper-nickel version and serving as the last cent design before Lincoln's portrait appeared in 1909.
United States
Lincoln-Illinois Centennial Half Dollar
A 1918 U.S. commemorative half dollar marking Illinois's 100th anniversary of statehood, featuring a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.
Commemorative
Thebes Boeotian Shield Stater
A silver stater from Boeotia bearing the distinctive figure-eight-shaped Boeotian shield, the common civic emblem struck by Thebes and its allied cities for centuries.
Ancient
New Jersey Copper
State-authorized copper coinage struck for New Jersey in the late 1780s, famous for its horse-head-and-plow obverse and shield reverse design.
United States
Connecticut Copper
State-authorized copper coinage struck for Connecticut in the mid-1780s, featuring a bust obverse and seated Liberty reverse across numerous die varieties.
United States
Walking Liberty Half Dollar
Widely admired U.S. half dollar designed by Adolph A. Weinman, depicting Liberty striding toward the sun and a bold eagle on the reverse; its obverse design was later revived for the Silver Eagle.
United States
Philippine 20 Centavos (US-Philippines)
A small silver coin from the US administration of the Philippines, showing Liberty striking an anvil before Mount Mayon on the obverse and a heraldic eagle on the reverse.
Asian
1973 RCMP Centennial Dollar
A commemorative Canadian dollar marking the centennial of the founding of the North-West Mounted Police, forerunner of the RCMP, showing a mounted officer on the reverse.
Canadian
US State Quarters Series
A landmark US Mint program issuing a new quarter reverse design for each of the 50 states in the order they joined the Union, sparking widespread collecting interest nationwide.
United States
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
1967 Bobcat Centennial Quarter
A one-year-only Canadian quarter struck for the 1967 Centennial of Confederation, featuring a bobcat on the reverse instead of the usual caribou.
Canadian
Swiss 20 Franc Vreneli
Switzerland's classic gold franc coin, depicting a young Swiss woman nicknamed Vreneli on the obverse and the Swiss shield on the reverse, a favorite of gold savers for over a century.
European
1967 Centennial Silver Dollar (Goose)
A one-year commemorative Canadian silver dollar struck for the 1967 Centennial of Confederation, its reverse depicting a Canada goose in flight, designed by Alex Colville.
Canadian
Spade Guinea
A George III gold guinea nicknamed for its spade-shaped shield reverse, one of the last widely circulated guinea types before the denomination was phased out in the early 1800s.
British
1955 Jefferson Nickel Poor Man's Doubled Die
A minor doubled-die variety on the 1955 Jefferson Nickel's date, nicknamed the 'Poor Man's Doubled Die' as a more affordable alternative to the famous 1955 doubled-die Lincoln Cent.
Errors & Varieties
New Zealand Florin (pre-decimal)
New Zealand's pre-decimal florin, famous for its kiwi-bird reverse design, circulated from 1933 until decimalization replaced it with the 20-cent coin in 1967.
Africa & Oceania
1958 British Columbia Totem Pole Dollar
A commemorative Canadian silver dollar marking the centennial of the founding of the Colony of British Columbia in 1858, its reverse featuring a totem pole design.
Canadian
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
2 Euro Coin
The highest-denomination circulating euro coin, with a silver-colored center inside a gold-colored ring, widely used by member states to issue popular commemorative designs collected across Europe.
European
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