Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
40 Francs Napoleon
A large early French gold 40 francs of Napoleon's Consulate, with the bare-headed BONAPARTE PREMIER CONSUL bust and a laurel-framed 40 FRANCS reverse dated 1804.
Bullion
Ancient Roman Coin
An unattributed ancient bronze coin of the Roman Empire, showing a right-facing portrait head on the obverse and a figure or heraldic design on the reverse.
Ancient
Bermuda Edward VIII Fantasy Crown
A modern fantasy Bermuda crown dated 1936 with an Edward VIII profile and a three-masted sailing ship; a gold-plated novelty, not an official coin.
Fantasy Issue
British Decimal Half Penny
The smallest UK decimal coin, a tiny bronze half-penny introduced with decimalisation in 1971, bearing a crown reverse and the Machin portrait of Elizabeth II.
British Isles
British Silver Threepence
Tiny sterling-silver threepence of Queen Victoria; the young-head type shown here dates to 1858 and is one of Britain's smallest circulating coins.
British Isles
Spade Guinea Token
A base-metal imitation of the George III spade guinea, made as a gaming counter or advertising token, with a male profile obverse and a spade-shaped shield reverse.
Token
Irish Pistole
A rare hammered gold emergency coin of 1640s Ireland, marked with its weight in pennyweights and grains rather than a portrait, and rated as a pistole.
Hammered
Gold Guinea
English gold coin of the Guinea denomination; the example shown bears the right-facing bust of Charles II with a crowned cruciform shield reverse dated 1668.
World Coins
Counterfeit Guinea
A base-metal (copper or brass) imitation of a George III gold guinea, struck or cast to deceive, showing a right-facing bust and a heraldic shield reverse.
Counterfeit
Anglo-Saxon Sceatta
Tiny thick silver coin of early Anglo-Saxon England, the example showing a stylized bird with geometric patterns and symbolic reverse designs.
Medieval Coins
Libya 1 Dinar (Counterfeit)
A brass coin imitating Libyan 1 Dinar coinage, carrying Arabic legends and geometric ornament but identified as a counterfeit or non-official replica.
World
Almoravid Gold Dinar
Pure-gold dinar of the Almoravid dynasty, struck in Islamic Spain and North Africa with concentric Arabic legends; this piece is dated 1116 CE.
Medieval Islamic
Unattributed Gold Coin
A gold-colored coin of uncertain origin: a portrait with East Asian calligraphy on one face and a radiating sunburst within a decorative border on the other.
Unknown
Oaxaca 5 Centavos
A copper 5-centavos struck by the sovereign State of Oaxaca during the Mexican Revolution, with a profile bust on the obverse and the numeral 5 in a wreath on the reverse.
Revolutionary
Puebla 20 Centavos
A copper 20 centavos struck in the State of Puebla during the Mexican Revolution, showing a profile bust and the numeral 20 with the national eagle, dated 1915.
Revolutionary
Double Rupi
A large Afsharid silver coin of Nader Shah, the double rupi, dated AH 1151 and covered in flowing Persian calligraphy and ornamental scrollwork.
Historic
10 Yen (Gold)
A Japanese gold 10 Yen of the Meiji era, its obverse a radiant chrysanthemum sunburst, its reverse a wreath framing imperial crests; dated Meiji 30 (1897).
Circulation
American Plantations Token
A 1688 tin token struck under James II for England's American colonies, valued at 1/24 of a Spanish real — the first regal-authorized coinage for British America.
Colonial
Roanoke Island Half Dollar
A 1937 U.S. silver half dollar marking 350 years since the Roanoke Island colony and the birth of Virginia Dare, with Sir Walter Raleigh and a sailing ship.
Classic Commemorative
Monroe Doctrine Centennial Half Dollar
A 1923 U.S. silver commemorative half dollar marking the centennial of the Monroe Doctrine, with jugate portraits of James Monroe and John Quincy Adams.
Classic Commemorative
Edward VIII New Zealand Crown
A 1936-dated crown-sized piece pairing an Edward VIII profile with a New Zealand kiwi; a fantasy/novelty issue, not an officially circulated coin.
World Coins
Ottoman Silver Coin
A silver coin of the Ottoman Empire bearing the sultan's tughra monogram amid floral ornament, with Arabic-script inscriptions on the reverse.
World
Tanzania 200 Shillings
A golden-brass circulating coin of the United Republic of Tanzania, showing a large African animal in grass with a bold 200 and a Swahili shilling legend.
World
Israel Half Lira (25th Anniversary)
A silver Israeli half lira dated 1973, the year the young state marked 25 years of independence, carrying a menorah-and-sprigs emblem and a Hebrew value.
World