Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
British Half Sovereign
A small 22-carat British gold coin worth ten shillings; the pictured example shows Queen Victoria's left-facing Young Head portrait, dated 1863.
British
Liberty Head Half Eagle
United States $5 gold coin with a left-facing Liberty head ringed by stars and a spread-winged eagle reverse; the pictured piece is dated 1838.
United States
Half Sovereign
A small British 22-carat gold coin worth ten shillings; this example shows Queen Victoria's veiled, crowned Jubilee Head portrait and is dated 1887.
World Coins
Brutus Aureus
The gold aureus of Marcus Junius Brutus, struck 42 BC, whose reverse celebrates Caesar's assassination with EID MAR, a cap of liberty, and two daggers.
Ancient
Solidus of Justinian I
Byzantine gold solidus of Emperor Justinian I (527-565 AD), showing his crowned imperial bust with a seated figure on the reverse.
Ancient Coins
Solidus of Constantius II
Late Roman gold solidus of Emperor Constantius II (337-361 AD), showing his diademed bust facing right paired with a seated-figure reverse.
Ancient Coins
Keicho Koban
A thin oval Japanese gold coin worth one ryo, its surface covered in fine parallel striations with stamped cartouches and Goto mint marks.
Historic
Japanese 20 Yen
Early Meiji-era Japanese gold coin showing a dragon among clouds on one side and a floral design with the 20 yen denomination on the other.
World Coins
10 Euro (Royal Marriage)
A 2002 Netherlands gold 10 Euro commemorating the royal wedding, with Queen Beatrix on the obverse and the dual profiles of Willem-Alexander and Maxima on the reverse.
Commemorative
Half Sovereign of George III
British 22-carat gold half sovereign of George III, introduced in 1817 with a laureate bust and a crowned shield of arms; face value ten shillings.
Milled
Vietnam 2 Tien - Bao Dai
A gold 2 Tien of Vietnam's last emperor, Bao Dai (1926-1945), its face bearing a radiant sun motif and Chinese-Vietnamese court inscriptions.
Southeast Asia
Panama-Pacific Exposition $50 (Octagonal)
An eight-sided $50 gold commemorative struck for San Francisco's 1915 world's fair, showing Minerva and her owl — the largest U.S. coin of its era.
Classic Commemorative
California Diamond Jubilee Half Dollar
A 1925 U.S. silver commemorative half dollar marking California's 75th year of statehood, designed by Jo Mora with a gold miner and a grizzly bear.
Classic Commemorative
Japanese 5 Yen
Small Meiji-era Japanese gold coin with an imperial chrysanthemum and characters on the obverse and a floral wreath framing the 5 Yen value.
World Coins
Double Louis d'Or
A large gold coin of Louis XIV dated 1701: the king's laureate profile and 'LUDOVICUS MAGNUS' obverse, an ornate cross of arms reverse.
Royal
8 Escudos (Carolus)
The largest Spanish gold coin of the age, the 8 Escudos or doubloon, struck under the Habsburg Carolus rulers with the crowned quartered royal arms.
Early Modern
Liberia 20 Dollars
A modern Liberian 20-dollar commemorative coin dated 2001, pairing the national arms with a saint and ecclesiastical architecture on the reverse.
World
Booker T. Washington Memorial Half Dollar
A U.S. silver commemorative half dollar (1946–1951) honoring educator Booker T. Washington, the first African American portrayed on a U.S. coin.
Classic Commemorative
Edward III Noble
Large medieval English gold coin of King Edward III, showing the crowned king standing in a ship and an ornate floral cross on the reverse.
Medieval Coins
Krugerrand
South Africa's 1 oz gold bullion coin, with Paul Kruger's portrait on the obverse and a leaping springbok on the reverse; this piece is dated 1975.
Bullion
Aureus of Marcus Aurelius
Small Roman gold coin of the reign of Marcus Aurelius; this piece shows a diademed portrait and a standing deity or personification, dated to 163 AD.
Ancient Coins
Gold Crown of Henry VIII (Third Coinage)
A hammered Tudor gold crown of five shillings struck during Henry VIII's Third Coinage, the debased issue that earned him the nickname "Old Coppernose."
Hammered
20 Drachmai
Greece's 1884 gold 20 Drachmai of King George I: a small Latin Monetary Union gold coin with the king's portrait and the crowned royal arms.
Modern
Irish Pistole
A rare hammered gold emergency coin of 1640s Ireland, marked with its weight in pennyweights and grains rather than a portrait, and rated as a pistole.
Hammered