Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
1875-CC Twenty-Cent Piece
A Carson City strike of the short-lived US twenty-cent piece, valued both for its unusual denomination and its Wild West mint origin.
United States
Spanish Gold Escudo (Doubloon)
The gold denomination of the Spanish Empire, whose larger multiples became famous as "doubloons," struck both in Spain and across its American colonial mints for centuries.
European
Panama-Pacific Gold Dollar Commemorative
A 1915 gold dollar honoring the workers who built the Panama Canal, featuring a canal laborer's head on the obverse and two dolphins encircling the denomination on the reverse.
Commemorative
1980 Moscow Olympics Silver Rouble
The Soviet Union struck an extensive multi-denomination coin program from 1977 to 1980 celebrating the Moscow Summer Olympics, including widely collected silver 1 rouble coins.
Commemorative
Japanese Nishu-kin (gold coin)
Small rectangular gold coin from Tokugawa Japan valued at two shu, or one-eighth of a ryo, part of a fractional gold denomination system unique to Edo-period currency.
Asian
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
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
Tibetan Silver Tangka
The traditional silver coin denomination of Tibet, issued in many distinct types over roughly three centuries, from early Nepalese-struck coinage to native Tibetan and Sino-Tibetan issues.
Asian
2 Euro Coin
The highest-denomination circulating euro coin, with a silver-colored center inside a gold-colored ring, widely used by member states to issue popular commemorative designs collected across Europe.
European
Five Guinea
The largest regularly issued gold denomination of the guinea coinage system, worth five guineas, struck from the reign of Charles II through George II for major transactions and presentation purposes.
British
Seated Liberty Half Dime
The final United States half dime series, struck from 1837 to 1873, features Christian Gobrecht's seated Liberty design before the denomination was replaced by the copper-nickel Shield Nickel.
United States
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
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
Cuba 4 Pesos Gold Jose Marti
A small gold denomination from Cuba's early republican-era gold coinage, part of a 1915–1916 series (1 through 20 pesos) struck to circulate on par with US gold currency.
Latin American
1849 Double Eagle
A unique pattern coin, the very first double eagle ever struck by the U.S. Mint, made to test the newly authorized twenty-dollar denomination; the sole surviving example is held by the Smithsonian.
United States
Chilean 20 Pesos Gold
The smallest of Chile's regular gold coin denominations, issued both in an earlier 19th-century gold peso series and later as part of the 1926 condor-themed gold reform.
Latin American
Indian Head Quarter Eagle ($2.50)
A small gold coin featuring Bela Lyon Pratt's distinctive incuse Native American design, one of only two U.S. denominations ever struck with recessed devices.
United States
French 5 Francs "Napoleon"
A large silver crown-sized coin bearing the portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte, first as First Consul and later as Emperor, marking France's decimal franc system's early flagship silver denomination.
European
Spanish 8 Reales Portrait Dollar
The globally trusted "Spanish dollar" bearing a king's portrait, minted across Spain's vast colonial empire and so widely circulated it directly inspired the U.S. dollar sign and denomination.
European
Spade Guinea
A George III gold guinea nicknamed for its spade-shaped shield reverse, one of the last widely circulated guinea types before the denomination was phased out in the early 1800s.
British
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
1965-1970 Kennedy Half Dollar (40% Silver)
Kennedy half dollars struck with a reduced 40% silver clad composition after the Coinage Act of 1965, bridging the gap between full silver coinage and today's copper-nickel clad coins.
United States
Capped Bust Half Eagle
John Reich's 1807 redesign turned Liberty to face left and added drapery to her bust, replacing the earlier Capped Bust to Right half eagle for a five-year run before the Capped Head type arrived.
United States
1948 Franklin Half Dollar
The debut year of the Franklin half dollar, featuring Benjamin Franklin's portrait and the Liberty Bell, designed by Mint engraver John R. Sinnock.
United States