Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Westward Journey Nickel
A 2004 Jefferson nickel from the Westward Journey series, showing the Lewis & Clark keelboat under sail on the reverse to mark the expedition's bicentennial.
Nickel Five Cent
Marinid Gold Dinar
Aniconic Islamic gold dinar of the Marinid dynasty of Morocco, its faces filled with Arabic religious inscriptions framed by geometric border bands.
Medieval Islamic
French West Africa 1 Franc
A lightweight aluminum 1 Franc dated 1948 for French West Africa, with an allegorical female head on the obverse and the value framed by AFRIQUE-OCCIDENTALE FRANCAISE on the reverse.
World
Gold Dinar of Abu'l-Fawaris Ahmad (Buyid)
A hand-struck gold dinar of the Iranian Buyid dynasty, naming the emir Abu'l-Fawaris Ahmad and dated AH 358, covered entirely in Kufic Arabic with no imagery.
Islamic (Medieval)
Dirham of Sistan
A silver Umayyad dirham struck at the Sijistan (Sistan) mint in AH 82 (701–702 CE), its faces filled with Kufic Arabic inscriptions ringed by concentric borders.
Islamic (Medieval)
Dirham of Hasan ibn Zayd
A 9th-century Islamic silver dirham struck for Hasan ibn Zayd, the Alid ruler of Tabaristan, bearing concentric Arabic religious and authority legends.
Islamic (Medieval)
Copper Fals of Muzaffar Hajji
A worn medieval Islamic copper fals bearing Arabic calligraphy and the name of the ruler al-Muzaffar Hajji, an aniconic base-metal coin used as everyday small change.
Islamic (Medieval)
Aurangzeb Rupee
A broad, hand-struck silver rupee of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (Alamgir), carrying a Persian couplet and mint-and-year data rather than the usual Islamic creed.
Asian
Bhutan 5 Sengtrum
A small cupro-nickel Bhutanese coin of 1979 worth five Sengtrum, with the national emblem on the obverse and a traditional architectural gateway on the reverse.
Himalayan
Ambedkar Centenary One Rupee
A 1990 Indian one-rupee commemorative honoring the birth centenary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, its obverse bearing his bespectacled portrait and bilingual legend.
Modern India
Xuantong Yuanbao 20 Cents
A small late-Qing silver 20-cent coin with a Western-style dragon, the English legend FIRST YEAR OF HSUAN TUNG, and Chinese characters reading Xuantong Yuanbao.
Circulation
Guangxu Yuanbao 50 Cents
A Qing-dynasty silver half-dollar bearing the legend Guangxu Yuanbao and a coiled dragon, struck by Chinese provincial mints during the Guangxu Emperor's reign.
Circulation
5 Yang
A late-Joseon Korean 5 Yang in bronze: a floral, chrysanthemum-and-taegeuk obverse paired with a coiled dragon and ornamental characters on the reverse.
Historic
500 Yen Niigata Prefecture Commemorative
A modern Japanese 500 Yen commemorative for Niigata Prefecture, showing a traditional ship that celebrates the region's maritime and port heritage.
Commemorative
Tetradrachm of Ptolemy XII
Silver tetradrachm struck under Ptolemy XII of Egypt, father of Cleopatra VII, bearing a diademed royal Ptolemaic head and the dynasty's eagle-on-thunderbolt reverse.
Ancient
Follis of Galerius
A large silvered bronze follis of the emperor Galerius (Augustus AD 305-311), struck across the Tetrarchic mints with a laureate portrait and a standing deity reverse.
Ancient
Arkansas Centennial Half Dollar (Robinson)
A 1936 U.S. silver commemorative half dollar pairing a portrait of Senator Joseph T. Robinson with the Arkansas Centennial eagle; a scarce one-year Philadelphia issue.
Classic Commemorative
Eisenhower Centennial Dollar
A 1990 U.S. commemorative silver dollar marking 100 years since Dwight D. Eisenhower's birth, with his left-facing profile and his Gettysburg home on the reverse.
Dollar
Tanzania 500 Shillings
A modern base-metal circulating coin of Tanzania carrying a right-facing portrait long associated with the nation's founding president and a Kiswahili legend.
World