Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
2.5 Escudos
A copper-nickel 2.5 Escudos of the Portuguese Republic, showing a sailing caravel on the obverse and the national shield with the value 2$50.
Modern
Gold Guinea
English gold coin of the Guinea denomination; the example shown bears the right-facing bust of Charles II with a crowned cruciform shield reverse dated 1668.
World Coins
Corieltauvi Stater
A gold stater of the Corieltauvi tribe of Iron Age Britain, with an abstracted head on the obverse and a stylized horse and symbols on the reverse.
Ancient
2 Fillér
A small early-20th-century Hungarian 2 fillér in copper-based bronze, showing the crowned Hungarian coat of arms on the obverse and the value with date on the reverse.
Modern
Gold Sovereign
The British gold sovereign: a one-pound gold coin. This 1817 George III example shows a laureate bust and a crowned heraldic shield of the royal arms.
World
Spanish Colonial Cob 2 Reales
A crude hand-struck silver cob worth a quarter of a piece of eight, showing a cross on one side and the Habsburg Spanish arms on the other.
Cob Coinage
Manlius Vulso Æ Sextans
Small Roman Republican bronze sextans signed by the moneyer Manlius Vulso, with a capped male head and the classic prow reverse marked ROMA.
Ancient
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
Unidentified Ancient Coin
A worn ancient bronze coin whose exact type is not yet identifiable — a right-facing profile portrait on one side and a faded design on the other.
Ancient
Ceylon 10 Cents (Cupronickel)
A wartime 1944 British Ceylon ten-cent piece in cupronickel, its obverse bearing the uniformed left-facing bust of King George VI and the legend GEORGE VI KING.
South Asia
East African 5 Cents
A holed copper-nickel colonial coin with a crown above scrollwork and EAST AFRICA lettering, issued by the East African Currency Board.
World
Follis of Constantine I and Crispus
A late-Roman bronze follis linking Constantine the Great to his son Crispus, with the emperor's right-facing portrait and a paired father-and-son bust reverse.
Ancient
Denarius of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius
Roman silver denarius of Antoninus Pius (138–161 AD), a dynastic type showing the emperor and the two young Caesars, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.
Ancient
Victoria One Rupee
Silver 1-rupee coin of British India bearing Queen Victoria's crowned bust, struck from 1862 to 1901 under Crown rule.
British India
India 50 Paise
A George VI half-rupee of British India dated 1946 — the pale nickel-brass ancestor of the modern 50 paise, with a crowned royal bust and a rampant lion reverse.
Modern India
500 Yen Bicolor Clad
Japan's large two-tone 500 yen circulation coin, with a floral blossom design and pearl-like beading on one face and bold value numerals on the other.
Circulation
India 10 Rupees
A silver-era Indian coin carrying the profile of King George VI, struck during the final years of British India and the transition to the Republic.
Circulation
George IV One Sixteenth Spanish Dollar
A small George IV silver coin of the "Anchor Money" series, worth one-sixteenth of a Spanish dollar and marked with an anchor and Roman numeral XVI.
Colonial
Hong Kong Trade Dollar
A large silver British Trade Dollar with standing Britannia on the obverse and a Chinese dragon reverse, made for commerce across the Far East.
Circulation
Hong Kong 20 Cents
A small British Hong Kong silver 20 Cents of Edward VII, with the crowned royal profile on one side and a Chinese dragon and value on the other.
Circulation
Indian Silver Coin
A silver coin of British India bearing Persian/Urdu calligraphy and a mint mark, in the Mughal-derived inscriptional style of Company-era coinage.
British India
Hong Kong 10 Cents
A small silver 10-cent coin of British Hong Kong showing the crowned profile of King Edward VII, with 'HONG-KONG TEN CENTS' and Chinese characters on the reverse.
Circulation
George IV One Quarter Spanish Dollar
An 1822 British colonial silver coin valued at one quarter of a Spanish dollar, part of the George IV "Anchor Money" issued for colonies in the Americas.
Colonial
East African 1 Cent
A small holed copper 1 Cent of British East Africa dated 1924, with a crown and decorative rings on one face and the value framing the central hole on the other.
World