Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Louis d'Or Coin Weight
A French bronze monetary weight (poids monétaire) made to check the weight of a gold Louis d'Or, not a coin itself but a money-changer's balance weight.
Coin Weight
Warring States Knife Coin
A cast bronze knife coin (dao bi) of China's Warring States period, shaped like a small blade with a ringed handle and cast inscriptions.
Ancient
10 Pahlavi Gold Coin
A large gold coin of Imperial Iran valued at ten Pahlavi, showing Mohammad Reza Shah on the obverse and the crowned Lion and Sun on the reverse.
Persia / Iran
Macao Silver Coin (1974)
A 1974 Macau silver coin marking the Macau-Taipa Bridge: a spanning bridge with a Chinese junk below, ringed by REPUBLICA PORTUGUESA and PONTE MACAU-TAIPA.
Circulation
China Panda Gold Coin
A modern Chinese gold bullion coin with the Temple of Heaven on one side and a giant panda on the other; this 2016 issue is a 30-gram gold piece.
Bullion
Bronze Coin of Septimius Severus (Tyre)
Roman provincial bronze struck at Tyre (Phoenicia) under Septimius Severus, 193-211 AD, with the emperor's bust on the obverse and a temple or deity reverse.
Ancient
Syracuse Bronze Coin of Hiero II
Ancient Greek bronze of Syracuse struck under King Hieron II, c. 275-215 BC, bearing a Hellenistic profile head; a very common Sicilian city bronze.
Ancient
Chu State Ant-Nose Coin
A small cast bronze cowrie-shaped coin of the Chu state, bearing a face-like Chinese inscription in relief, nicknamed ant-nose or ghost-face money.
Ancient
Unidentified Silver Coin (Louis XV era)
An 18th-century French royal silver coin of the Louis XV era, showing a right-facing bust and a crowned fleur-de-lis shield; the exact denomination is not confirmed.
Royal
American Liberty High Relief Gold Coin
A modern one-ounce, .9999 fine gold $100 coin from the US Mint's American Liberty series, struck in dramatic high relief with a contemporary Liberty and eagle design.
Bullion
First Spouse Gold Coin (Alice Paul)
A 2012 half-ounce 24-karat gold coin from the U.S. Mint's First Spouse series honoring suffragist Alice Paul and the woman-suffrage movement.
Commemorative
3 Roubles (First All-Russian Coins)
Soviet 1982 commemorative 3 Roubles honoring the first all-Russian coins, showing three historical 18th-century Russian coins with the state emblem reverse.
Commemorative
Hanover-Luneburg 1.5 Thaler
A large silver 1.5 Thaler of Brunswick-Luneburg (Hanover), dated 1681, with a busy multi-shield heraldic design and the motto SOL BONA QUE HONESTA.
German States
2 Lire
Silver 2 Lire of the Papal States struck under Pope Pius IX, part of the Italian lira system adopted by Rome in the 1860s.
Modern
Silver Dirham (LACMA M.2002.1.437)
A thin, broad 8th-century Islamic silver dirham covered in Kufic Arabic inscriptions, with no portrait or image — only religious legends and decorative flourishes.
Islamic (Medieval)
100 Lire
Italy's 1979 100 Lire, a nickel-hued FAO commemorative with a woman's profile on the obverse and an allegorical figure beside the value on the reverse.
Modern
Trinidad and Tobago Dollar
A Trinidad and Tobago one-dollar circulation coin dated 2015, showing the national coat of arms on the obverse and national emblems on the reverse.
Circulation
20 Lire
Silver-colored Italian 20 Lire piece of the Fascist era, showing a Mussolini profile and a horse-drawn chariot, dated 1936.
Modern
Bangladesh One Taka
A small nickel-plated steel coin of Bangladesh worth one Taka, showing a jute plant with stars on the obverse and the numeral 1 with Bengali text and date on the reverse.
South Asia
Cambodia One Franc
A mid-20th-century one-franc coin of the Kingdom of Cambodia, its obverse bearing a royal Norodom profile and its reverse a heraldic coat of arms.
Southeast Asia
Twenty Cent Piece
A short-lived U.S. silver coin worth twenty cents, showing a seated Liberty and a soaring eagle, struck only from 1875 to 1878.
Twenty Cent
Franklin Pierce Presidential Dollar
Golden-colored U.S. dollar from the Presidential $1 Coin series, honoring Franklin Pierce, the 14th President, with a Statue of Liberty reverse.
Dollar
George Washington Presidential Dollar
The 2007 golden dollar honoring George Washington, first coin in the U.S. Presidential $1 series, with a left-facing portrait and Statue of Liberty reverse.
Dollar
Native American Dollar
U.S. golden dollar with the Sacagawea obverse and a yearly-changing reverse; the 2009 issue shows Native American agriculture and three corn stalks.
Dollar