Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Spanish Colonial Cob 1 Real
A small, crudely hand-struck silver cob of one real, made in Spain's American colonies with heraldic shield-and-cross designs.
Cob Coinage
Spanish Colonial 1 Real (Bourbon)
A small silver coin of Spain's American colonies from the early Bourbon era, showing a cross with ornaments on one side and the crowned royal arms on the other.
Colonial
German East Africa 1 Rupie
A silver colonial rupee of German East Africa bearing the imperial eagle shield and the legend DEUTSCH OSTAFRIKA, struck for the German protectorate.
World
German East Africa 1/4 Rupie
A small colonial silver coin of German East Africa, inscribed DEUTSCH OSTAFRIKA and 1/4 RUPIE within a wreath, paired with the imperial eagle.
World
Massachusetts Shilling (1 Shilling 6 Pence)
A colonial-era Massachusetts silver piece valued at one shilling and sixpence, joining a pine-tree obverse with a rising-sun reverse and the date 1779.
Colonial
Guangxu Yuanbao 1 Mace 4.4 Candareens
A small silver dragon coin of Qing China from the Guangxu era, its face reading 1 Mace 4.4 Candareens and its back showing a coiled Chinese dragon.
Circulation
Israel 1 Agora (Bank of Israel 25th Anniversary)
A small 1980 aluminum-bronze 1 Agora of Israel, tied to the Bank of Israel's 25th anniversary, with grain ears on one face and the value 1 with Hebrew legend on the other.
World
5 Aurar
Icelandic bronze 5 aurar of the Kingdom era, marked ÍSLAND with a crowned KONUNGDÓMUR ÍSLANDS reverse, struck 1926-1942.
World
Hanover-Luneburg 1.5 Thaler
A large silver 1.5 Thaler of Brunswick-Luneburg (Hanover), dated 1681, with a busy multi-shield heraldic design and the motto SOL BONA QUE HONESTA.
German States
Silver Dirham (LACMA M.2002.1.437)
A thin, broad 8th-century Islamic silver dirham covered in Kufic Arabic inscriptions, with no portrait or image — only religious legends and decorative flourishes.
Islamic (Medieval)
2 Rigsdaler (Gold)
A gold striking of Denmark's 1863 2 rigsdaler, with the right-facing bust of Christian IX and the crowned royal arms — a rare early piece of his reign.
European
Speciedaler
Large early-modern Norwegian silver crown of the Dano-Norwegian kingdom, showing a crowned royal bust and the Norwegian lion shield, dated 1628.
Early Modern
Ecu of Louis XIV
A large silver crown of Louis XIV, the Sun King, showing his laureate or wigged bust facing left and a crowned French shield of fleur-de-lis, dated 1693.
Royal
Ecu of Louis XVI
A large French silver ecu of Louis XVI dated 1784: left-facing royal bust obverse, crowned arms of France and Navarre framed by laurel on the reverse.
Royal
Leif Erikson Commemorative 1000 Króna
Icelandic silver commemorative dated 2000, marking the millennium of Leif Erikson's voyage and the Norse discovery of North America.
Commemorative
Swedish Gold Commemorative
An early-20th-century Swedish gold coin showing a right-facing royal profile with the legend SVERIGES KONUNG and the fatherland motto.
Commemorative
½ Skilling
A small copper Danish half skilling of 1771, showing a royal crown over the king's cipher and the value ½ SKILLING DANMARK K:M on the reverse.
Early Modern
Eric XIV Silver Coin
Silver coin of Eric XIV of Sweden (r. 1560–1568), showing his crowned profile portrait and a heraldic Vasa/Three Crowns reverse, struck c. 1565.
Medieval
4 Skilling
A Danish copper 4 skilling of 1783, with a crown above a numeral on one face and an ornamental circular pattern framing the date on the other.
Early Modern
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
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
Unidentified Silver Coin (Louis XV era)
An 18th-century French royal silver coin of the Louis XV era, showing a right-facing bust and a crowned fleur-de-lis shield; the exact denomination is not confirmed.
Royal
Contemporary Forgery of Louis XVI Ecu
A period-style counterfeit imitating a Louis XVI silver ecu: a copied royal portrait obverse and a copied standing-figure reverse dated about 1792.
Forgery
Xuantong Yuanbao 7 Mace 2 Candareens
A late Qing silver dollar-size coin of the Xuantong era (1909-1911), reading 宣統元寶 on the obverse with a Chinese dragon on the reverse.
Circulation