Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Shilling
One of Britain's oldest circulating silver denominations, nicknamed the 'bob,' equal to twelve pence and struck for over four centuries before decimalisation.
British
Sovereign (Ottawa Mint, C Mintmark)
British gold sovereigns struck at the Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint between 1908 and 1919, marked with a small "C," making Canada part of the empire's global sovereign network.
Canadian
English Crown
A large English silver coin worth five shillings, first struck under Henry VIII, that became one of Britain's most artistically celebrated denominations before decimalization.
British
Virginia Halfpenny
An official royal copper coinage struck in London specifically for the Colony of Virginia, showing King George III, whose distribution was disrupted by the approaching American Revolution.
United States
Half Groat
A small hammered silver coin worth half the value of the groat, or two pence, struck across three centuries of English coinage from the reign of Edward III through the Stuart era.
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
Australian Gold Sovereign (Sydney Mint)
Gold sovereign struck at the Sydney Mint, Australia's first branch mint, opened to coin gold from the New South Wales gold rushes into imperial currency.
Africa & Oceania
Hong Kong Silver Dollar (1866–1868, Victoria)
A short-lived silver dollar struck at Britain's ill-fated Hong Kong Mint, bearing a young portrait of Queen Victoria; the mint closed within two years.
Asian
Australian Threepence (pre-decimal)
Small pre-decimal Australian silver coin worth three pence, popularly recognized for its bundled wheat-ear reverse design used across most of the 20th century.
Africa & Oceania
Higley Copper
A privately minted colonial Connecticut copper token, famous for its blunt 'VALUE ME AS YOU PLEASE' inscription after colonists balked at its initial overvalued threepence rating.
United States
Continental Dollar
A large 1776-dated piece bearing a sundial, 'MIND YOUR BUSINESS,' and a thirteen-link chain, long debated as either an intended Continental Congress dollar or a contemporary satirical piece.
United States
Liberty Head Double Eagle
A large gold twenty-dollar coin featuring Liberty's coronet-crowned head, struck for decades amid the California Gold Rush and westward mint expansion.
United States
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
Indian Gold Mohur
The traditional high-value gold coin of the Indian subcontinent, struck for centuries by Mughal emperors, later by the British East India Company, British India, and various princely states.
Asian
India Gold Pagoda (Madras Presidency)
Small gold coin traditionally used across South India, later adopted and standardized by the East India Company's Madras Presidency before being phased out for rupee-based currency.
Asian
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
Peruvian Libra de Oro (Gold Pound)
Peru's gold pound, modeled on the British sovereign's weight and fineness, was struck intermittently to support Peru's participation in the international gold standard.
Latin American
Sixpence
A small British silver coin worth half a shilling, affectionately nicknamed the 'tanner,' beloved for its traditional role tucked into Christmas puddings.
British
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
French 10 Francs Gold (Napoleon Rooster)
A small French gold coin from the Third Republic featuring the Gallic rooster reverse, a smaller companion to the famous 20 francs 'Coq' gold piece.
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
Panama-Pacific $50 Gold (Round)
A massive round commemorative gold piece struck for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, one of the rarest and most valuable U.S. commemorative coins ever issued.
Commemorative
Farthing
The smallest-value British bronze coin, worth a quarter of a penny, fondly remembered for its charming wren reverse design used from 1937 until its withdrawal.
British
Halfpenny
A small British bronze coin worth half a penny, best known in its twentieth-century form featuring Sir Francis Drake's ship the Golden Hind on the reverse.
British