Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Mexican 8 Reales Pillar Dollar
Minted in colonial Mexico City from 1732 to the early 1770s, the pillar dollar's crowned globes and Pillars of Hercules design made it one of the most widely trusted silver trade coins in the world.
Latin American
Double Sovereign
A British gold coin worth two pounds, twice the value of the standard sovereign, struck intermittently since the nineteenth century for commemorative and bullion purposes.
British
Half Crown
A long-lived British coin worth one-eighth of a pound, struck from the Tudor era until decimalisation in 1970, valued today mainly for its portraits and design variety.
British
Half Crown Gold
A small gold coin worth half a gold crown, struck from the reign of Henry VIII through the English Civil War, distinct from the far more familiar silver half crown that circulated for centuries afterward.
British
Abbasid Gold Dinar
The standard gold coin of the Abbasid Caliphate centered on Baghdad, inscribed entirely in Arabic script and struck for roughly five centuries across a vast Islamic empire.
World
Byzantine Gold Semissis
A scarce half-value gold fraction of the Byzantine solidus, struck in smaller numbers than the tremissis and often associated with ceremonial or donative purposes.
Ancient
Testoon
The earliest English coin to carry a realistic royal portrait, introduced under Henry VII around 1487 as the forerunner of the shilling, later continued and debased under Henry VIII.
British
Maundy Twopence
A small silver twopence struck each year as part of the Royal Maundy set, historically descended from the medieval silver half groat and still distributed in the annual royal alms ceremony.
British
Quarter Farthing
The smallest fractional denomination in British coinage, worth one-sixteenth of a penny, struck primarily for use in colonial Ceylon during Victoria's reign.
British
Two Guinea (Double Guinea)
A substantial gold coin worth two guineas, struck intermittently from the reign of Charles II through George II as part of England and Great Britain's early guinea coinage system.
British
Claudius Denarius
A silver denarius of Emperor Claudius, whose unexpected rise to power after Caligula's assassination was famously secured with the support of the Praetorian Guard.
Ancient
Athenian Owl Dekadrachm
An extremely rare large-format silver coin of classical Athens, struck in only a handful of surviving examples and prized as one of the great rarities of ancient Greek numismatics.
Ancient
British Gold Britannia
The United Kingdom's flagship gold bullion coin, issued by the Royal Mint since 1987, featuring the classical figure of Britannia and enjoying capital gains tax exemption for UK residents as legal tender.
Bullion
Chinese Kirin Province Dragon Dollar
A late Qing dynasty silver dollar from China's northeastern Kirin province, widely admired by collectors for the unusually artistic and finely detailed dragon design on several of its issues.
Asian
Polish-Lithuanian Thaler
The large silver trade coin of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, struck under successive kings from the 16th through 18th centuries, bearing royal portraits paired with the combined Polish eagle and Lithuanian Vytis arms.
European
Swedish Krona
The krona has been Sweden's national currency since 1873, originally struck in silver as part of the Scandinavian Monetary Union and today issued in base metals bearing the reigning monarch's portrait.
European
Kuwaiti Fils
Kuwait's everyday subsidiary coinage, introduced after independence in 1961 as 1/1000 of the Kuwaiti dinar, featuring the Emir's name and national emblems across several denominations.
Asian
Mexican 8 Reales Cap and Rays
The classic silver dollar of independent Mexico, showing a radiant Phrygian liberty cap over mountains, widely trusted and traded across the Americas and Asia for most of the 19th century.
Latin American
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
Argentine Peso Moneda Nacional (Patacón)
Argentina's long-standing peso moneda nacional coinage, informally nicknamed the patacón, formed the backbone of the country's currency from the 1880s well into the twentieth century.
Latin American
Japanese 50 Sen Silver (Meiji Phoenix)
An early Meiji-era Japanese silver coin featuring a coiled dragon on the obverse and a phoenix on the reverse, part of Japan's first modern decimal coinage system introduced after the Meiji Restoration.
Asian
Nepal Silver Mohar
A traditional silver denomination issued by the Malla city-kingdoms and later the unifying Shah dynasty of Nepal, typically bearing Devanagari script rather than portraits.
Asian
English Angel
A gold coin depicting the Archangel Michael slaying a dragon, issued for nearly two centuries and later famous for its use as a royal 'touch-piece' for the healing ceremony of the King's Evil.
British
Finnish Markka
Finland's national currency from the era of Russian imperial rule until the adoption of the euro, issued in a range of coin denominations reflecting the country's changing political history.
European