Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Victorian Silver Five Cents
The small sterling silver five-cent coin struck under Queen Victoria for the Province of Canada and later the Dominion of Canada, issued intermittently from 1858 to 1901.
Canadian
Five Pound Gold (Quintuple Sovereign)
The largest standard gold coin in the British sovereign family, worth five pounds and equal to five sovereigns, struck intermittently since 1820 for commemorative and collector purposes.
British
US Morgan Dollar
Classic American silver dollar struck from 1878 to 1921, named for designer George T. Morgan and known for its detailed Liberty head and eagle reverse.
United States
1892 Barber Half Dollar
First-year issue of Charles Barber's Liberty Head half dollar, with the 1892-O and 1892-S branch mint coins notably scarcer than the Philadelphia strike.
United States
1913 Barber Half Dollar
A recognized key date of the Barber half dollar series, with a Philadelphia mintage far lower than most other years, making it prized by series collectors.
United States
1901-S Barber Quarter
The single rarest business-strike coin in the Barber quarter series, with an extremely small San Francisco mintage that makes even heavily worn examples valuable.
United States
Australian 50 Cent (round 1966 silver)
Australia's original round 50-cent coin from the 1966 decimal changeover, struck in 80% silver and withdrawn the same year once its bullion value exceeded face value.
Africa & Oceania
1916-D Mercury Dime
The key date of the Mercury Dime series, the 1916-D was struck at Denver in a very low quantity, making genuine examples scarce and highly sought after by collectors.
United States
2012 London Olympics 50p Series
The Royal Mint issued 29 different circulating 50 pence coins in 2011, each honoring a different sport of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, sparking a nationwide coin-collecting craze in Britain.
Commemorative
Philippine 50 Centavos (Commonwealth, 1936)
A special 1936 silver 50-centavo coin marking the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, issued in two paired-portrait varieties honoring Quezon alongside Murphy or Roosevelt.
Asian
1913 Barber Quarter
A lower-mintage date in the Barber Quarter series designed by Charles E. Barber, notable among collectors for the relatively small number struck at the Philadelphia Mint that year.
United States
Mexican Gold Centenario (50 Pesos)
Mexico's iconic gold coin, first struck in 1921 to mark a century of independence, depicting the Angel of Independence and still produced today as bullion.
Bullion
Una and the Lion Five Pound
A legendary 1839 gold proof depicting young Queen Victoria as Una leading a lion, widely considered one of the most beautiful coins ever struck and a benchmark of Victorian coin art.
British
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
Larissa Nymph Facing Drachm
A celebrated Thessalian silver drachm showing the facing head of the nymph Larissa, considered one of the finest facing-portrait achievements in Greek coin art.
Ancient
Type 3 Indian Princess Gold Dollar
The final and longest-running design of the U.S. gold dollar, featuring a larger, better-struck Native American princess portrait than its short-lived Type 2 predecessor.
United States
1976 Montreal Olympics Silver Coin Series
A landmark seven-series program of sterling silver $5 and $10 coins issued by Canada to help finance and celebrate the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics.
Commemorative
1892 Barber Quarter
The first-year issue of the Barber quarter series, introducing Charles Barber's new Liberty Head design after the retirement of the earlier Seated Liberty quarter.
United States
1937 Doubled Die Obverse Buffalo Nickel
A doubled die variety of the 1937 Buffalo nickel showing visible doubling in the obverse date and lettering, collected alongside other notable varieties from the final years of the Buffalo nickel series.
Errors & Varieties
New Jersey Copper
State-authorized copper coinage struck for New Jersey in the late 1780s, famous for its horse-head-and-plow obverse and shield reverse design.
United States
2000 Sydney Olympics Coin Series
The Royal Australian Mint issued one of the largest circulating commemorative coin programs ever produced for a single Olympics, featuring numerous $5 designs alongside premium silver and gold proof coins for the Sydney 2000 Games.
Commemorative
Type 2 Indian Princess Gold Dollar
A short-lived, notoriously weakly struck redesign of the U.S. gold dollar, prized today for its brief production window and the striking difficulties that led to its quick replacement.
United States
1793 Liberty Cap Half Cent
The first-year half cent, struck in 1793 with a distinctive 'Head Facing Left' Liberty Cap design used only that single year before the design was revised.
United States
1938-D/S Buffalo Nickel Overmintmark
The famous final-year Buffalo nickel variety showing a D mintmark punched over a leftover S, created when Denver reused a die originally prepared for San Francisco.
Errors & Varieties