Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Lincoln Shield Cent
The current U.S. one-cent coin, struck since 2010, pairing Lincoln's profile with a Union Shield reverse on a copper-plated zinc planchet.
Small Cent
British Bank Token
Copper token of the late George III period bearing the king's left-facing bust and a quartered royal-arms reverse, dated 1819.
British Isles
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
Quarter Merk
A small hammered silver coin of Scotland worth a quarter of a merk, showing a crowned heraldic shield with a cross and a Latin legend.
Hammered
British Half Crown
British silver half crown of King George V, worth two shillings and sixpence, with the king's bare left-facing head and a crowned shield of arms.
British Isles
1 Penni
Finland's smallest post-1963 coin: a tiny light base-metal piece with a bold numeral 1 and SUOMI on the front and a geometric line pattern on the back.
World
Sixpence of James I
A hammered silver sixpence of James I of England: crowned profile bust with VI value mark, and a dated garnished shield over a cross on the reverse.
Hammered
Voyageur Dollar
Canada's first circulating silver dollar, struck in 1935 for King George V's Silver Jubilee, showing a voyageur and guide paddling a canoe.
World Coins
Antiochos the Child Tetradrachm
Silver Seleucid tetradrachm, c. 175 BC, with a young diademed head and a martial reverse figure with spear and shield.
Ancient
Medieval Halfgroat of Henry VII
Hammered silver twopence of England's first Tudor king, with a crowned royal portrait and a long-cross reverse over a shield.
British Isles
Bavaria 6 Kreuzer
A small silver 6 Kreuzer of the Electorate of Bavaria, showing the profile of Charles VII and a crowned double-headed imperial eagle marking the value.
German States
Anglo-Saxon Sceatta
Tiny thick silver coin of early Anglo-Saxon England, the example showing a stylized bird with geometric patterns and symbolic reverse designs.
Medieval Coins
Flying Eagle Cent
America's first small cent, showing an eagle in flight on the obverse and an agricultural wreath on the reverse; struck 1856–1858 in copper-nickel.
Small Cent
New Zealand Sixpence
New Zealand's small silver sixpence, famed for its native-bird reverse. This 1934 example shows King George V and the bird design with NEW ZEALAND SIXPENCE.
New Zealand
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
Medieval Coin
A worn hammered silver coin of the medieval era, with faded profile, legends, and a heraldic or emblematic reverse.
Hammered
Denier of Charles the Bald
A small hammered silver denier of the Carolingian king Charles the Bald (r. 840–877), pairing a cross or monogram design with a ruler's profile.
Medieval
Straits Settlements One Cent
A round bronze one-cent coin of the British Straits Settlements bearing the crowned profile of King George V, dated 1920.
Colonial
Halfpenny of Henry VIII
A tiny hand-struck Tudor silver halfpenny of Henry VIII, showing a crowned facing bust on the obverse and a long cross over a shield of arms on the reverse.
Hammered
British Groat
A small George III silver fourpence of 1792, the British groat: laureate king's profile obverse, crowned shield and value reverse.
Circulation
Australian Threepence
Australia's small pre-decimal silver threepence (3d), the country's tiniest coin, struck 1910-1964. The example shown carries a George V portrait.
Australian
Belize 1 Cent
A small bronze one-cent coin from the Caribbean nation now called Belize, carrying a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and dated 1954.
Circulation
Spade Guinea
A late George III gold guinea named for the distinctive spade-shaped shield on its reverse, struck in England from 1787 into the early 1800s.
Milled
Draped Bust Large Cent
An early U.S. copper one-cent coin (1796–1807) showing a right-facing Liberty with flowing hair and drapery, larger and heavier than a modern cent.
United States