Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Roman Denarius
The workhorse silver coin of ancient Rome for over four centuries, used across the Republic and Empire and one of the most widely collected categories of ancient coinage today.
Ancient
Portuguese 1000 Reis
A large silver crown of the Kingdom of Portugal, bearing the reigning monarch's portrait and national arms, serving as the country's principal high-value silver coin before the 1910 republic.
European
US America the Beautiful Quarters
A successor to the State Quarters program honoring national parks and other national sites from every US state and territory, including a unique 5-ounce silver bullion companion series.
United States
Costa Rica 2 Colones Gold
A small gold denomination from Costa Rica's early colon-era coinage, part of a family of gold coins (2, 5, 10, and 20 colones) struck around the turn of the twentieth century.
Latin American
Chinese Yunnan Province Dragon Dollar
A silver dragon dollar struck by China's remote southwestern Yunnan province, notable for its distinctive coiled dragon design and unusually long production continuing well into the Republic era.
Asian
Walking Liberty Half Dollar
Widely admired U.S. half dollar designed by Adolph A. Weinman, depicting Liberty striding toward the sun and a bold eagle on the reverse; its obverse design was later revived for the Silver Eagle.
United States
1955 Doubled Die Lincoln Cent
A famous doubled die error showing strong, plainly visible doubling on the date and lettering of the obverse, among the most recognizable die varieties in U.S. coinage.
Errors & Varieties
US State Quarters Series
A landmark US Mint program issuing a new quarter reverse design for each of the 50 states in the order they joined the Union, sparking widespread collecting interest nationwide.
United States
Fifty Pence
The UK's distinctive seven-sided 50p coin, introduced in 1969 to replace the ten shilling note ahead of decimalisation.
British
1921 Fifty Cents (King of Canadian Coins)
Canada's most famous rarity, the 1921 fifty-cent piece survives in only a small number of known examples after most of its mintage was melted, earning it the nickname King of Canadian Coins.
Canadian
Coat of Arms Fifty Cents (Elizabeth II)
Canada's modern fifty-cent piece, showing the Canadian coat of arms on the reverse since 1959 under successive obverse portraits of Queen Elizabeth II and, later, King Charles III.
Canadian
Kellogg & Co. Gold Piece
Private gold coinage struck by the San Francisco firm Kellogg & Co. during the California Gold Rush, including the famous octagonal fifty-dollar 'slug' of 1855, filling a shortage of circulating coin.
United States
Victoria Fifty Cents (half dollar)
Canada's silver fifty-cent piece struck under Queen Victoria from 1870 to 1901, featuring her portrait and a heraldic shield-and-wreath reverse.
Canadian
Austrian 100 Corona Gold
A large gold coin of Austria-Hungary bearing Emperor Franz Joseph I, popular today as a bullion and collector piece thanks to its restrike program.
European
Austrian 20 Corona Gold
A compact gold coin of the Austro-Hungarian Empire depicting Emperor Franz Joseph I, widely available today as an accessible historic gold piece.
European
Austrian Gold Ducat
A traditional high-purity Austrian gold trade coin with centuries of history, still struck today by the Austrian Mint as an official restrike permanently dated 1915.
European
Bolivia 8 Soles Silver
An early Bolivian republican silver coin denominated in soles, struck at Potosí in the decades following independence before the boliviano currency system replaced it.
Latin American
Peru 8 Reales (Lima Mint)
The flagship silver dollar-size coin of colonial and early republican Peru, struck at the historic Lima mint from cob and pillar types through crowned-shield busts.
Latin American
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
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
Carolingian Silver Denier (Charlemagne)
Standardized silver penny introduced under Charlemagne's monetary reform, forming the template for medieval European currency for centuries afterward.
European
2008 Hawaii State Quarter
The final release of the 50 State Quarters Program, honoring Hawaii with an image of King Kamehameha I extending his hand over the Hawaiian islands.
United States
South African Silver Krugerrand
The silver version of the world-famous Krugerrand, launched in 2017 to mark the gold coin's 50th anniversary, using the same Kruger and springbok design.
Bullion
2004-D Wisconsin State Quarter Extra Leaf
A famous 50 State Quarters error showing an extra corn leaf on the Wisconsin quarter's reverse, found in two forms known as Extra Leaf High and Extra Leaf Low.
Errors & Varieties