Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Netherlands Rijksdaalder
A historic large silver crown-sized coin of the Low Countries, the rijksdaalder became a trusted trade coin across Europe for centuries and lent its name to the modern Dutch 2½-guilder piece.
European
Valerian Antoninianus
Radiate coin of Valerian, the only Roman emperor ever captured alive by a foreign enemy, taken prisoner by the Sassanid king Shapur I in 260 AD.
Ancient
George V Ten Cents
Canada's silver ten-cent coin struck throughout the long reign of King George V, spanning the First World War era through to the mid-1930s.
Canadian
Merovingian Gold Tremissis
A small gold coin of the Merovingian Frankish kingdom, worth one-third of a solidus, often naming the local moneyer who struck it rather than the reigning king.
European
Nabataean Silver Drachm (Aretas IV)
Silver coin of Aretas IV, the most powerful king of the Nabataean Kingdom centered on Petra, often showing his portrait jugate with Queen Shaquilat.
Ancient
Pound Coin
The United Kingdom's £1 coin, introduced in 1983 to replace the paper pound note, redesigned as a 12-sided bimetallic coin in 2017.
British
George V Fifty Cents
Canada's fifty-cent silver coin issued under King George V, spanning a reduction in silver fineness in 1920 and including the famously rare 1921 date.
Canadian
Rose Noble (Ryal)
A large English gold coin first struck under Edward IV in 1465, showing the king standing in a ship, and later revived in the Tudor era as a heavier, higher-value gold piece.
British
Netherlands 5 Gulden Gold
A gold 5 gulden coin struck intermittently by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, first under King William I in the 1820s and later as a rare 1912 commemorative under Queen Wilhelmina.
European
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
Sassanian Drachm of Khusro II
A silver coin of the long-reigning Sasanian king Khusro II, among the most commonly found ancient Persian coins, showing his ornate crowned bust and a Zoroastrian fire altar.
Ancient
George V Twenty-Five Cents (silver)
Canada's silver twenty-five-cent coin struck under King George V, a series notable for its famous 1921 key date and a rare 1936 emergency dot variety.
Canadian
George V Five Cents (silver)
The last era of Canadian silver five-cent coins, struck under King George V until nickel replaced silver in 1922, including the legendary rarity of the 1921 date.
Canadian
Rosa Americana Coinage
A British-issued colonial coinage for America under a patent granted to William Wood, showing a rose and King George I, that was widely rejected by colonists for its poor metal and overvaluation.
United States
South African Mandela R5 Coin
South African circulating commemorative five-rand coin honoring Nelson Mandela, first issued for his 90th birthday in 2008 and again for his birth centenary in 2018.
Commemorative
English Angel
A gold coin depicting the Archangel Michael slaying a dragon, issued for nearly two centuries and later famous for its use as a royal 'touch-piece' for the healing ceremony of the King's Evil.
British
Ostrogothic Silver Quarter Siliqua
Small silver coin struck by the Ostrogothic kings of Italy in the name of the reigning Byzantine emperor, bearing the Gothic king's monogram on the reverse.
European
Twenty Pence
A seven-sided UK coin introduced in 1982 to fill a gap between the ten pence and fifty pence denominations.
British
Parthian Silver Drachm
Long-running silver coin of the Parthian Empire, showing the king's portrait on the obverse and the dynasty's founder as a seated archer on the reverse.
Ancient
Italian 5 Lire
A large silver crown of the newly unified Kingdom of Italy, bearing the portrait of the reigning king and marking Italy's emergence as a single national currency after centuries of regional coinages.
European
Maundy Twopence
A small silver twopence struck each year as part of the Royal Maundy set, historically descended from the medieval silver half groat and still distributed in the annual royal alms ceremony.
British
Austrian Silver Philharmonic
Austria's modern one-ounce silver bullion coin, launched in 2008 as a companion to the long-running gold Philharmonic, featuring the instruments of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
Bullion
French Ecu (Louis d'Argent)
France's principal large silver coin of the pre-revolutionary era, bearing the reigning king's portrait, used as the standard silver crown-sized coin for over a century before decimalization.
European
Sassanian Silver Drachm
The standard silver coin of the Sasanian Persian Empire, featuring an elaborately crowned king's portrait and a Zoroastrian fire altar with attendants, struck for over four centuries.
Ancient