Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Three-Dollar Gold Piece
An unusual U.S. gold coin of the $3 denomination struck 1854–1889, showing a Liberty head in a feathered Indian-style headdress. The photo shows the 1854 first year.
Gold Type Coin
Edward IV Groat
A hammered silver fourpence of King Edward IV of England, struck 1461-1483, with a crowned facing bust on one side and a long cross with rosettes on the other.
Medieval Coins
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
Vietnam 2 Tien - Bao Dai
A gold 2 Tien of Vietnam's last emperor, Bao Dai (1926-1945), its face bearing a radiant sun motif and Chinese-Vietnamese court inscriptions.
Southeast Asia
Macedonian Silver Tetradrachm
Large silver tetradrachm of ancient Macedon in the Alexander type, c. 188-170 BC, with the head of Heracles in a lion skin and Zeus enthroned holding an eagle.
Ancient
Denarius of Lucius Verus
A silver Roman denarius of the emperor Lucius Verus (161–169 AD), showing his curly-haired, bearded portrait facing right with a Latin legend.
Ancient
Denarius of M. Sanquinius
A silver denarius struck at Rome in 17 BC by the moneyer M. Sanquinius under Augustus, tied to the Secular Games, with a male portrait and a standing herald.
Ancient
Denarius of Faustina the Elder
A silver Roman denarius honoring Faustina the Elder, wife of Antoninus Pius, with her draped bust and a seated Fortuna reverse, struck c. 141–161 AD.
Ancient
Denarius of Tiberius (Tribute Penny)
Silver denarius of Emperor Tiberius (14–37 AD), obverse his laureate head, reverse a seated female figure — the famous "Tribute Penny" of the Gospels.
Ancient
Denarius of Commodus
A silver denarius of the Roman emperor Commodus (180–192 AD), with his laureate bearded portrait and a standing deity or personification on the reverse.
Ancient
Schaummünze 4 Thaler
A silver Schaummünze struck to a 4-Thaler weight, dated 1666, with elaborate heraldic and figural imagery referencing August der Jüngere.
Medal
Hanover 2/3 Thaler
A large German States silver 2/3 Thaler of Brunswick-Luneburg (Hanover) dated 1694, with an ornate coat of arms and the leaping Saxon horse reverse.
German States
Victoria Maundy Fourpence
A tiny sterling-silver ceremonial coin from a royal Maundy set. This 1889 example shows Victoria's crowned Jubilee Head and a crowned '4' in a wreath.
British Isles
James VI Ryal
A large hammered silver Scottish ryal of James VI, showing a crowned lion-rampant shield and a mailed swordhand grasping an upright sword, dated 1569.
Hammered
Irish Gun Money Shilling
A base-metal Irish emergency shilling struck for James II in 1689-1690, with his laureate bust and a crowned reverse dated by month, here October 1689.
Emergency Coinage
Shah Jahan Half Rupee
Silver half rupee of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, dated AH 1055, carrying Persian-script inscriptions and ornamental borders instead of any portrait.
Mughal India
Gold Dinar of Baybars I
A hand-struck gold coin of the Mamluk sultan Baybars I, covered on both faces with Arabic calligraphy naming the ruler and struck in Egypt between 1260 and 1277 CE.
Islamic
Gothic Florin
A silver two-shilling florin of Queen Victoria in the medieval-revival Gothic style, with an ornate crowned cruciform shield reverse dated 1869.
Milled
Charles II Crown
Milled English silver crown of Charles II (reigned 1660-1685), a large machine-struck five-shilling piece with a laureate bust and cruciform shields.
Milled
Gold Toman of Fath-Ali Shah Qajar
A hand-struck Qajar gold toman of Fath-Ali Shah dated AH 1226–1227 (1811–1812), covered in ornate Persian calligraphy with no portrait or figural imagery.
Persia / Iran
Silver Dirham of Sayf ad-Din Inal
A thin Mamluk silver dirham of Sultan al-Ashraf Sayf ad-Din Inal (r. 1453–1461), covered on both faces with Arabic inscriptions naming the sultan and his titles.
Islamic
Copper Fals of Muhammad ibn Qalawun
A hand-struck Mamluk copper fals of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun, covered in geometric ornament and Arabic inscriptions, struck about 1310–1341 CE.
Islamic (Medieval)
Abbasid Silver Dirham
A thin, broad Islamic silver coin of the Abbasid Caliphate, covered edge to edge with concentric Kufic Arabic inscriptions and dated AH 132 (AD 749–750).
Islamic
Counterstamped 2 Reales
A Spanish silver 2 reales dated 1803 that was later punched with a WR-and-crown counterstamp, giving it a second, borrowed life as legal tender.
Colonial