Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
French West Africa 1 Franc
A lightweight aluminum 1 Franc dated 1948 for French West Africa, with an allegorical female head on the obverse and the value framed by AFRIQUE-OCCIDENTALE FRANCAISE on the reverse.
World
Spanish Colonial Cob 1 Real
A small, crudely hand-struck silver cob of one real, made in Spain's American colonies with heraldic shield-and-cross designs.
Cob Coinage
Spanish Colonial 1 Real (Bourbon)
A small silver coin of Spain's American colonies from the early Bourbon era, showing a cross with ornaments on one side and the crowned royal arms on the other.
Colonial
Massachusetts Shilling (1 Shilling 6 Pence)
A colonial-era Massachusetts silver piece valued at one shilling and sixpence, joining a pine-tree obverse with a rising-sun reverse and the date 1779.
Colonial
Guangxu Yuanbao 1 Mace 4.4 Candareens
A small silver dragon coin of Qing China from the Guangxu era, its face reading 1 Mace 4.4 Candareens and its back showing a coiled Chinese dragon.
Circulation
Israel 1 Agora (Bank of Israel 25th Anniversary)
A small 1980 aluminum-bronze 1 Agora of Israel, tied to the Bank of Israel's 25th anniversary, with grain ears on one face and the value 1 with Hebrew legend on the other.
World
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
India Four Anna
An early Republic of India quarter rupee (four annas) of 1950, showing the Ashoka Lion Capital emblem with radiating rays and the country name INDIA.
Modern India
Caecidius Noctua Denarius
A silver Roman Republican denarius of the owl (noctua) symbol series, catalogued RRC 135/1 and dated c. 194–190 BC.
Ancient
Republic India One Pice
A small bronze one-pice from 1950, the first year of the Republic of India, the lowest coin of the pre-decimal anna series struck in a copper alloy.
Modern India
India 50 Paise
A George VI half-rupee of British India dated 1946 — the pale nickel-brass ancestor of the modern 50 paise, with a crowned royal bust and a rampant lion reverse.
Modern India
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)
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
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
Indian Silver Coin
A silver coin of British India bearing Persian/Urdu calligraphy and a mint mark, in the Mughal-derived inscriptional style of Company-era coinage.
British India
Double Rupi
A large Afsharid silver coin of Nader Shah, the double rupi, dated AH 1151 and covered in flowing Persian calligraphy and ornamental scrollwork.
Historic
Burma One Kyat (Mindon Min)
Silver kyat of King Mindon Min's Burma, showing the royal peacock with spread tail on the obverse and the denomination within a wreath on the reverse.
Southeast Asia
Westward Journey Nickel
A 2004 Jefferson nickel from the Westward Journey series, showing the Lewis & Clark keelboat under sail on the reverse to mark the expedition's bicentennial.
Nickel Five Cent
Jordanian 2½ Dinars
A crown-sized 1977 silver commemorative of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, pairing King Hussein's portrait with a standing gazelle from the wildlife-conservation coin theme.
World
Philippines 25 Centavos
Silvery base-metal 25 centavos of the young Republic of the Philippines, dated 1958: a standing figure with a liberty torch and the Republic's sunburst coat of arms.
Southeast Asia
Philippines 50 Centavos
A 1960s Philippine 50-centavos coin in copper-nickel, its obverse showing an allegorical woman with a torch and its reverse the national coat of arms.
Southeast Asia
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
George IV One Sixteenth Spanish Dollar
A small George IV silver coin of the "Anchor Money" series, worth one-sixteenth of a Spanish dollar and marked with an anchor and Roman numeral XVI.
Colonial
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