Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Three-Dollar Gold Piece
An unusual and short-lived gold denomination created partly to simplify buying sheets of three-cent postage stamps, now a favorite oddity among gold coin collectors.
United States
South African Mandela R5 Coin
South African circulating commemorative five-rand coin honoring Nelson Mandela, first issued for his 90th birthday in 2008 and again for his birth centenary in 2018.
Commemorative
Chinese Song Dynasty Cash Coin
A round bronze coin with a square center hole issued during China's Song Dynasty, among the most massively produced and commonly collected pre-modern Chinese coin types.
Asian
Korean Sang Pyong Tong Bo (Mun cash coin)
Traditional Korean cast cash coin with a square center hole, issued for over two centuries during the Joseon Dynasty and carrying the inscription 'Everlasting Circulating Treasure.'
Asian
Japanese Mon (Kan'ei Tsuho cash coin)
Long-running cast copper or iron cash coin of Edo-period Japan, inscribed 'Kan'ei Tsuho' and produced continuously for well over two centuries.
Asian
Vietnamese Tu Duc Thong Bao (cash coin)
A cast bronze or zinc cash coin issued under Emperor Tự Đức of Vietnam's Nguyễn Dynasty, round with a square center hole in the traditional East Asian style.
Asian
South African Silver Krugerrand
The silver version of the world-famous Krugerrand, launched in 2017 to mark the gold coin's 50th anniversary, using the same Kruger and springbok design.
Bullion
Capped Bust Quarter Eagle
An umbrella term for the earliest U.S. $2.50 gold coins (1796-1834), whose Liberty-in-a-cap portrait evolved through several sub-types, including the famous single-year 1808 issue.
United States
Connecticut Copper
State-authorized copper coinage struck for Connecticut in the mid-1780s, featuring a bust obverse and seated Liberty reverse across numerous die varieties.
United States
Vermont Copper
Copper coinage struck under authority of the independent Vermont Republic in the 1780s, featuring an early landscape design and later a Britannia-style type.
United States
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
2004-D Wisconsin State Quarter Extra Leaf
A famous 50 State Quarters error showing an extra corn leaf on the Wisconsin quarter's reverse, found in two forms known as Extra Leaf High and Extra Leaf Low.
Errors & Varieties
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
Ottoman Para
A small fractional Ottoman coin, historically 1/40 of a kurus, struck for centuries in varying metals as the empire's lowest everyday denomination.
World
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
Armenian Silver Noah's Ark
A biblically themed silver bullion coin issued by the Central Bank of Armenia, referencing Mount Ararat's traditional association with Noah's Ark.
World
Japanese Kan'ei Tsuho Cash
The workhorse cash coin of Edo-period Japan, cast continuously from 1636 for over two centuries with a square hole and simple four-character legend.
Asian
Mamluk Gold Dinar
A gold dinar of the Mamluk Sultanate, which ruled Egypt and Syria for over two and a half centuries, continuing the Islamic epigraphic gold coinage tradition until the Ottoman conquest.
World
Nabataean Silver Drachm (Aretas IV)
Silver coin of Aretas IV, the most powerful king of the Nabataean Kingdom centered on Petra, often showing his portrait jugate with Queen Shaquilat.
Ancient
Japanese Wado Kaichin
Japan's earliest officially minted coin, cast in 708 AD in imitation of Tang Chinese cash, with a round shape and square center hole.
Asian
Korean Sangpyeong Tongbo Cash
The standard cash coin of Joseon-dynasty Korea, cast for over two centuries with a huge range of mint and workshop marks on the reverse.
Asian
Spanish Colonial Cob (Macuquina)
Crude, irregularly shaped hand-struck coins produced at Spanish colonial mints in the Americas for over two centuries, forming the basis of the famous 'pieces of eight' that circulated worldwide.
Latin American
Thailand (Siam) Silver Baht 'Bullet Money' (Pod Duang)
Distinctive bent-bar silver currency used in Siam for centuries, hand-formed into a bullet-like shape and stamped with royal marks in place of a flat coin design.
Asian
French Napoleon 20 Francs Gold
France's standard 19th-century gold coin, first struck under Napoleon I and continued under later rulers and the Republic, giving rise to the enduring nickname "Napoleon" for any 20-franc gold coin.
European