Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
1974 Aluminum Cent
An extremely rare experimental pattern struck in aluminum as a potential replacement for the copper cent amid rising metal costs, almost none of which were legally released to the public.
Errors & Varieties
1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent
The most famous key date in the Lincoln cent series, struck only briefly at the San Francisco Mint with designer Victor D. Brenner's initials on the reverse.
United States
Sixpence
A small British silver coin worth half a shilling, affectionately nicknamed the 'tanner,' beloved for its traditional role tucked into Christmas puddings.
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
Republican Quinarius
A half-denarius silver coin of the Roman Republic, often depicting the twin gods Castor and Pollux (the Dioscuri) riding on horseback.
Ancient
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
Wood's Hibernia Halfpenny
A British copper coinage patented by William Wood for Ireland, controversially rejected there but widely circulated instead in colonial America, where large surplus shipments ended up in everyday trade.
United States
Chilean 50 Pesos Gold
A mid-sized Chilean gold coin issued as part of the 1926 gold standard reform, sharing the condor design theme with its larger and smaller companion denominations.
Latin American
Angel
An English gold coin depicting the Archangel Michael slaying a dragon, introduced in 1465 and famously used as a ceremonial 'touch piece' in royal healing rituals.
British
Mexican Estados Unidos 1 Peso 'Morelos'
A mid-twentieth-century Mexican silver peso portraying independence hero José María Morelos, struck in fifty-percent silver for just a few years after World War II.
Latin American
Chinese Ban Liang Cash
China's first standardized round coin with a square center hole, introduced under Qin Shi Huang to unify currency across the newly consolidated Chinese empire.
Ancient
Massachusetts Cent (1787-1788)
State-issued copper coinage struck by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1787 and 1788, notable as the first official U.S. coinage to use the denomination 'cent'.
United States
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
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
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
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
Anglo-Saxon Silver Sceat
Small, thick early Anglo-Saxon silver coin with enigmatic pagan and Christian imagery, the direct forerunner of the later English penny.
British
Quarter Farthing
The smallest fractional denomination in British coinage, worth one-sixteenth of a penny, struck primarily for use in colonial Ceylon during Victoria's reign.
British
Austrian Florin (Gulden)
The main silver coin of Austria-Hungary in the second half of the 19th century, used until the krone replaced it in the 1892 monetary reform.
European
Maximian Follis
Large bronze follis of Maximian, co-Augustus with Diocletian who ruled the western half of the empire as part of the Tetrarchy and shared the same reformed coinage design.
Ancient
Barber Dime
A late-19th and early-20th century silver dime designed by Charles E. Barber, featuring a classical Liberty head, part of a matching set with the Barber quarter and half dollar.
United States
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
Mamluk Gold Dinar
A gold dinar of the Mamluk Sultanate, which ruled Egypt and Syria for over two and a half centuries, continuing the Islamic epigraphic gold coinage tradition until the Ottoman conquest.
World
50 Euro Cent Coin
A gold-colored circulating euro coin worth half a euro, struck in a copper-based Nordic gold alloy and easily recognized by its distinctive scalloped-edge shape and national obverse design.
European