Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
1851 Silver Three-Cent Piece
The first-year issue of the tiny Type I silver three-cent piece, nicknamed the trime, created to ease a national shortage of small change and postage-stamp coinage.
United States
1892 Barber Quarter
The first-year issue of the Barber quarter series, introducing Charles Barber's new Liberty Head design after the retirement of the earlier Seated Liberty quarter.
United States
1878 Twenty-Cent Piece (Proof)
The final-year proof-only issue of the US twenty-cent piece, struck for collectors just before Congress formally ended the short-lived denomination.
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
Bavaria Thaler
The historic large silver coin of Bavaria, struck across centuries by its electors and kings, capturing the state's political and artistic history until Germany's currency unification in the 1870s.
European
Draped Bust Dollar
The first regular-issue U.S. silver dollar with the Draped Bust design, struck 1795-1804, featuring a small eagle reverse and later a heraldic eagle reverse.
United States
1866 Seated Liberty Quarter (Motto)
The first year the motto IN GOD WE TRUST appeared on the quarter dollar, the low-mintage 1866 Philadelphia issue is a genuine key date of the Seated Liberty series.
United States
Gothic Crown
An ornate Victorian silver crown featuring a young Queen Victoria in Gothic-script lettering, widely admired as one of the most artistically accomplished coins in British history.
British
1892 Barber Half Dollar
First-year issue of Charles Barber's Liberty Head half dollar, with the 1892-O and 1892-S branch mint coins notably scarcer than the Philadelphia strike.
United States
Kellogg & Co. Gold Piece
Private gold coinage struck by the San Francisco firm Kellogg & Co. during the California Gold Rush, including the famous octagonal fifty-dollar 'slug' of 1855, filling a shortage of circulating coin.
United States
Liberty Head V Nickel
Struck from 1883 to 1912 (with five secretly made 1913 examples), the Liberty Head Nickel is famous for its 1883 'No CENTS' variety and its ultra-rare 1913 issue.
United States
1873-CC Seated Liberty Quarter (No Arrows)
One of the great rarities of the Seated Liberty quarter series, this tiny Carson City issue predates the mid-1873 arrows-at-date modification and survives in only a handful of known examples.
United States
Carson City Morgan Dollar (CC Mint)
Morgan silver dollars struck at the Carson City Mint, identified by the small CC mintmark, prized for their Wild West mystique and generally lower mintages than Philadelphia or New Orleans issues.
United States
1939-S Jefferson Nickel
A scarce San Francisco Jefferson Nickel from the early series, notable for being one of two tougher 1939 issues and for a well-known doubled-die reverse variety showing a doubled MONTICELLO.
United States
Talbot, Allum & Lee Cent
A merchant token issued by the New York trading firm Talbot, Allum & Lee to help ease the shortage of small change in the 1790s, featuring a sailing ship on the obverse.
United States
1796 Draped Bust Dime
The very first dime struck by the United States Mint, featuring the Draped Bust design with a small eagle reverse and no stated denomination.
United States
1900 Lafayette Dollar
The first United States commemorative silver dollar, struck in 1900 to help fund a statue of the Marquis de Lafayette presented to France at the Paris Exposition.
Commemorative
Brasher Doubloon
A famous privately struck gold coin made in 1787 by New York goldsmith Ephraim Brasher, a neighbor of George Washington, and one of the most valuable and celebrated coins in American numismatics.
United States
Flowing Hair Chain Cent
The first cent struck for circulation by the United States Mint, showing Liberty with flowing hair and a controversial 15-link chain on the reverse.
United States
Massachusetts Cent (1787-1788)
State-issued copper coinage struck by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1787 and 1788, notable as the first official U.S. coinage to use the denomination 'cent'.
United States
1794 Flowing Hair Half Dime
One of the very first silver coins struck for circulation by the United States Mint, bearing the Flowing Hair Liberty design and a small eagle reverse.
United States
1794 Flowing Hair Half Dollar
The first half dollar ever struck by the United States Mint, produced in tiny numbers and ranking among the most desirable early American silver coins.
United States
1908-S Indian Head Cent
The first Indian Head cent struck at the San Francisco Mint, marking the first time a branch mint produced a one-cent coin for the United States.
United States
Flowing Hair Half Dime
One of the earliest United States silver coins, the Flowing Hair Half Dime was struck only in 1794 and 1795 and is a landmark rarity for early American coinage collectors.
United States