Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Pine Tree Shilling
Colonial Massachusetts silver shilling struck by John Hull and Robert Sanderson, famous for carrying the fixed date 1652 for roughly three decades of actual production.
United States
Louisiana Purchase Gold Dollar Commemorative
A 1903 commemorative gold dollar issued for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, struck in two varieties featuring the portraits of Thomas Jefferson and William McKinley.
Commemorative
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
San Diego Pacific Exposition Half Dollar
A 1935-1936 U.S. commemorative half dollar sold at the California Pacific International Exposition in San Diego's Balboa Park.
Commemorative
Seated Liberty Dollar
A mid-19th century silver dollar depicting Liberty seated on a rock, the standard large silver dollar of the United States before the Trade dollar and Morgan dollar.
United States
US Seated Liberty Dollar
Mid-19th century American silver dollar showing Liberty seated on a rock, produced from 1840 until being replaced by the Trade Dollar in 1873.
United States
Ottoman Kurus (Piastre)
The standard Ottoman monetary unit for centuries, struck in silver or base metal bearing the sultan's tughra, later becoming a subunit of the Ottoman lira after 1844.
World
Swedish Riksdaler
Sweden's traditional silver dollar denomination, used for roughly two centuries before being replaced by the krona in the 1870s currency reform.
European
Portuguese Real
Portugal's centuries-old pre-decimal currency unit, used from the medieval era until the 1911 introduction of the escudo, also struck for Brazil and other colonies.
European
Barber Dime
A late-19th and early-20th century silver dime designed by Charles E. Barber, featuring a classical Liberty head, part of a matching set with the Barber quarter and half dollar.
United States
British Sovereign (modern proof)
Contemporary proof-quality gold sovereign struck by the Royal Mint, continuing Benedetto Pistrucci's St George and the dragon reverse design used since the early 19th century.
British
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
Spanish 4 Reales
A mid-value denomination of Spain's traditional real-based coinage, struck for centuries in both Spain and its American colonies.
European
Bremen Thaler
A silver thaler of the free Hanseatic city of Bremen, typically featuring the city's key emblem, issued for centuries as an independent trading city's own coinage.
European
Wood's Hibernia Halfpenny
A British copper coinage patented by William Wood for Ireland, controversially rejected there but widely circulated instead in colonial America, where large surplus shipments ended up in everyday trade.
United States
Mende Dionysos on Donkey Tetradrachm
A striking Classical-era silver tetradrachm from the wine-city of Mende, showing the wine-god Dionysos reclining drunkenly on a donkey, one of ancient coinage's most whimsical designs.
Ancient
Kyrene Silphium Tetradrachm
A silver tetradrachm from the North African Greek city of Kyrene featuring the now-extinct silphium plant, the source of the city's legendary wealth as a prized ancient medicinal herb.
Ancient
Viking Silver Penny of York
Silver penny struck by Norse rulers of the Viking Kingdom of York, blending Christian and pagan imagery such as crosses, swords, and Thor's hammers.
British
Italian 5 Lire
A large silver crown of the newly unified Kingdom of Italy, bearing the portrait of the reigning king and marking Italy's emergence as a single national currency after centuries of regional coinages.
European
Egyptian Qirsh (Muhammad Ali Era)
Silver-billon piastre struck in Egypt under Muhammad Ali Pasha in the name of the Ottoman Sultan, reflecting Egypt's growing autonomy within the empire.
Africa & Oceania
Hadrian Travel Series Denarius
A celebrated series of silver denarii issued late in Hadrian's reign, personifying the many provinces he famously toured throughout the Roman Empire.
Ancient
Venezuela 5 Bolivares 'Fuerte' Silver
A high-purity Venezuelan silver crown struck in 1911–1912, nicknamed the 'Fuerte' (strong) issue for restoring .900 fineness after decades of debased coinage.
Latin American
German Bremen Thaler
A silver thaler issued by the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen before German unification, featuring the city's heraldic key, part of the patchwork of pre-1871 German state and city coinages.
European
Mexican Un Peso Silver (Cap and Rays)
A late-nineteenth-century Mexican silver peso showing a radiant Liberty cap, struck at Mexico City and several regional mints during the Porfirio Díaz era.
Latin American