Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Qianlong Tongbao (An Nam)
A bronze round cash coin with a square center hole bearing the four characters Qianlong Tongbao, cast in An Nam (Vietnam) in the imitative Chinese style.
Cash Coin
Pakistan 5 Rupees
A brass Pakistani five-rupee coin with a large numeral 5 set in an ornamental frame and Islamic-style Urdu calligraphy around both faces.
South Asia
Contemporary Forgery of Louis XVI Ecu
A period-style counterfeit imitating a Louis XVI silver ecu: a copied royal portrait obverse and a copied standing-figure reverse dated about 1792.
Forgery
Najd Silver Coin
Silver trade coin catalogued to Najd, central Arabia, bearing a left-facing Victoria Queen bust and an 1862 date in the British India rupee style.
Arabia
Silver Dirham of Salm ibn Ziyad
An Arab-Sasanian silver dirham struck for the Umayyad governor Salm ibn Ziyad, with a Sasanian-style bust and fire-altar reverse plus Arabic marginal inscriptions.
Islamic (Medieval)
Río de la Plata Copper Real
A copper real of the Río de la Plata showing the Sol de Mayo sun and a PROVINCIAS legend, dated 1785 — a provincial-style piece from the Argentine region.
Colonial
Xuantong Yuanbao 20 Cents
A small late-Qing silver 20-cent coin with a Western-style dragon, the English legend FIRST YEAR OF HSUAN TUNG, and Chinese characters reading Xuantong Yuanbao.
Circulation
Three-Dollar Gold Piece
An unusual U.S. gold coin of the $3 denomination struck 1854–1889, showing a Liberty head in a feathered Indian-style headdress. The photo shows the 1854 first year.
Gold Type Coin
Colombia 8 Escudos (Base Metal)
A base-metal (copper-alloy) piece styled after the colonial Colombian 8 escudos gold onza, with a Charles III profile and crowned heraldic arms dated 1760.
Colonial
Real (Medieval)
A medieval Spanish silver real carrying the heraldic arms of the Iberian kingdoms — a lion for León paired with a castle or cross design.
Medieval
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
Grosz Koronny
A silver Crown grosz of the Kingdom of Poland, dated 1527, with a royal crown above a shield on one side and the Polish Eagle on the other.
Early Modern
Speciedaler
Large early-modern Norwegian silver crown of the Dano-Norwegian kingdom, showing a crowned royal bust and the Norwegian lion shield, dated 1628.
Early Modern
100 Lei
A scarce Kingdom of Romania gold 100 Lei of 1939, showing King Carol II in profile on the obverse and the crowned Romanian coat of arms on the reverse.
Modern
Prussian Taler
A large silver taler of the Kingdom of Prussia showing the crowned profile of Frederick II and a heraldic coat of arms, struck through the mid-to-late 1700s.
German States
Styca of Aethelred
Small base-metal coin of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, naming King Aethelred, with a central device and legend on one face and a cross on the other.
Medieval Coins
Philip III Gold Stater
A Macedonian gold stater struck under Philip III Arrhidaeus, half-brother of Alexander the Great, showing Heracles and an enthroned Zeus.
Ancient
Gallic Imitation Stater
A gold stater struck by the tribes of Gaul, whose stylized head and single horse descend from Greek Macedonian prototypes reworked into abstract Celtic art.
Ancient
Unattributed Gold Coin
A gold-colored coin of uncertain origin: a portrait with East Asian calligraphy on one face and a radiating sunburst within a decorative border on the other.
Unknown