Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Macao 100 Patacas Return to China Commemorative
A 1999 Macao 100 patacas commemorative marking the return to China: a Portuguese ship with a gold center on one side, the Macao coat of arms on the other.
Commemorative
Erstein Notgeld 5 Pfennigs
A World War I emergency small-change coin issued by the town of Erstein in 1917, with the civic coat of arms on one side and a large 5 on the other.
Token/notgeld
Eighth Thistle Merk
A small hammered silver Scottish coin of James VI, showing a crowned heraldic shield of arms on one side and a crowned thistle on the other.
Hammered
Barbados 10 Cents
A small copper-nickel Barbadian 10-cent coin showing the national coat of arms on one side and the value and country name on the other.
Circulation
Anglo-Saxon Styca
A tiny base-metal coin of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, struck in the 8th-9th century with a head and inscription on one side and a cross on the other.
Medieval Coins
4 Maravedis
A copper Spanish coin struck in the names of Carlos and Joanna, worth four maravedis (one cuarto), carrying the crowned royal arms and Pillars of Hercules.
Circulation
Bhutan 10 Sengtrum
A 1979 cupro-nickel minor coin of the Kingdom of Bhutan, worth one-tenth of a ngultrum, with the national arms on one face and an ornamental gateway on the other.
Himalayan
Chilean Peso (1875 Type)
A silver one-peso coin of Chile: the national coat of arms with its lone star and laurel wreaths on one side, and a large bird in flight on the other.
Circulation
20 Para
A small base-metal coin of socialist Yugoslavia, showing the value 20 with the date 1974 on one side and the six-flame Yugoslav state emblem on the other.
Modern
French 30 Sols
A silver coin of the early French Revolution showing Louis XVI as constitutional king on one side and a standing Liberty on the other.
Revolutionary
Erstein Notgeld 10 Pfennigs
A 1917 German emergency coin (Notgeld) for 10 Pfennigs from the town of Erstein, with the city coat of arms on one side and a large 10 on the other.
Token/notgeld
Trinidad and Tobago 25 Cents
A copper-nickel 25-cent coin of Trinidad and Tobago: a leafy national-flower plant design on one face and the value TWENTY FIVE CENTS on the other.
Circulation
France 20 Centimes
A small gold-colored French Fifth Republic coin showing Marianne in profile, worth one-fifth of a franc, struck for four decades before the euro.
Circulation
Lincoln Wheat Cent
U.S. one-cent coin struck 1909–1958 with Lincoln's profile and a pair of wheat ears framing ONE CENT; the 1909-S here is a scarce first-year San Francisco issue.
Small Cent
Roman Denarius
A small hammered silver coin of ancient Rome, showing an emperor's portrait and abbreviated Latin titles on one side and a deity or figure on the other.
Ancient
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
Ghana 20 Pesewas
A one-year 1967 Ghanaian coin bearing a national eagle and the motto FREEDOM AND JUSTICE, with the country's coat-of-arms shield on the reverse.
World
Guangdong 20 Cents
A silver 20-cent coin of Kwangtung (Guangdong) province, struck under the Guangxu Emperor with a coiled dragon on one side and Chinese legends on the other.
Circulation
British Silver Threepence
Tiny sterling-silver threepence of Queen Victoria; the young-head type shown here dates to 1858 and is one of Britain's smallest circulating coins.
British Isles
Celtic Gold Quarter Stater
A small Iron Age gold coin struck by the Celtic peoples of ancient Britain, valued at one-quarter of a full stater and marked by abstract, geometric designs.
Ancient
Quarter Farthing
Tiny copper coin of Queen Victoria worth one-sixteenth of a penny, struck for use in Ceylon; the smallest-value British denomination ever made.
British Isles
Sierra Leone 20 Cents
A 1964 Sierra Leone 20 cents from the country's first decimal coinage, showing a portrait profile on one side and the national coat of arms with its lion on the other.
World
1 Litas
A 1991 Lithuanian one-litas coin from the first coinage after restored independence, showing the value with a radiating pattern and the Vytis knight of the national arms.
Modern
Una and the Lion Five Pounds
William Wyon's 1839 gold Five Pounds pairs a young Queen Victoria with Una guiding a lion — widely praised as one of the most beautiful British coins ever struck.
British Isles