Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Egyptian Farouk 5 Piastres
Silver five-piastre coin of the Kingdom of Egypt struck during the reign of King Farouk, featuring his portrait or cipher alongside Arabic denomination legends.
Africa & Oceania
British Sovereign (modern proof)
Contemporary proof-quality gold sovereign struck by the Royal Mint, continuing Benedetto Pistrucci's St George and the dragon reverse design used since the early 19th century.
British
Danish 2 Rigsdaler
A large silver crown of the Kingdom of Denmark, double the standard rigsdaler denomination, often struck to commemorate specific royal events before Denmark adopted the krone in 1873.
European
British Gold Britannia
The United Kingdom's flagship gold bullion coin, issued by the Royal Mint since 1987, featuring the classical figure of Britannia and enjoying capital gains tax exemption for UK residents as legal tender.
Bullion
Farthing
The smallest-value British bronze coin, worth a quarter of a penny, fondly remembered for its charming wren reverse design used from 1937 until its withdrawal.
British
Halfpenny
A small British bronze coin worth half a penny, best known in its twentieth-century form featuring Sir Francis Drake's ship the Golden Hind on the reverse.
British
Threepence
A small British coin worth three pence, issued first as a tiny silver piece and later as the distinctive 12-sided brass 'threepenny bit' beloved for its unusual shape.
British
Penny
One of the oldest and most iconic British denominations, the pre-decimal penny is famous for its large bronze Britannia design and beloved key dates like the 1933 penny.
British
Sixpence
A small British silver coin worth half a shilling, affectionately nicknamed the 'tanner,' beloved for its traditional role tucked into Christmas puddings.
British
Groat (Fourpence)
A historic English silver coin worth four pence, first struck under Edward I in 1279 and periodically revived, later surviving mainly as a Maundy Money denomination.
British
Gold Britannia
The United Kingdom's premier gold bullion coin series, launched in 1987, featuring Britannia on the reverse and available in one-ounce and fractional weights.
Bullion
Maundy Threepence
The third denomination of the Royal Maundy set, a small silver threepence given out in the monarch's annual pre-Easter alms ceremony, distinct from Britain's separate everyday circulating threepence.
British
Maundy Fourpence
The largest of the four Royal Maundy coins, a small silver fourpence descended in value from the medieval groat, struck annually for the monarch's ceremonial Maundy Thursday alms distribution.
British
Third Farthing
An extremely small denomination worth one-twelfth of a penny, struck mainly to serve the currency needs of the British colony of Malta across the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
British
Twenty Pence
A seven-sided UK coin introduced in 1982 to fill a gap between the ten pence and fifty pence denominations.
British
Lydian Lion Trite (Electrum)
An early electrum coin from the Kingdom of Lydia bearing a roaring lion's head, among the very earliest coins struck anywhere in the world.
Ancient
British Crown
Valued at five shillings, the British crown is a large silver (and later cupro-nickel) coin with a production history stretching from Tudor England to modern commemorative issues.
British
Joachimsthaler
Struck beginning in 1520 in the Bohemian silver-mining town of Joachimsthal, this large silver coin gave its name, shortened to 'thaler' and later 'dollar,' to countless currencies around the world.
European
Caligula Sestertius
A large brass sestertius of the notorious emperor Caligula, a scarce and historically fascinating coin due to his short, controversial reign and later condemnation.
Ancient
Eukratides I Gold Stater (Baktria)
A gold stater of Eukratides I, the powerful Greco-Bactrian king best known for issuing the largest gold coin surviving from antiquity, depicting the divine twins Dioskouroi on horseback.
Ancient
Titus Denarius
The silver denarius of Emperor Titus, second Flavian ruler, celebrated for completing the Colosseum and for a short, well-regarded reign.
Ancient
Constantius I Chlorus Follis
Reform-era bronze follis of Constantius I Chlorus, Caesar and later Augustus of the western Tetrarchy, remembered chiefly as the father of Constantine the Great.
Ancient
Diocletian Follis
Large bronze follis of Diocletian, whose sweeping reforms ended the Crisis of the Third Century, established the Tetrarchy, and introduced this new standardized coin denomination in 294 AD.
Ancient
Gallienus Antoninianus
Radiate coin of Gallienus, who ruled through the depths of the Crisis of the Third Century and is especially known for a colorful late-reign series of animal and mythological reverse types.
Ancient