Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Capped Bust Quarter Eagle
An umbrella term for the earliest U.S. $2.50 gold coins (1796-1834), whose Liberty-in-a-cap portrait evolved through several sub-types, including the famous single-year 1808 issue.
United States
Draped Bust Eagle
The formal catalog name for the first U.S. ten-dollar gold coin once it adopted a bold heraldic eagle reverse in 1797, the same coin popularly nicknamed the 'Turban Head' eagle.
United States
British Silver Britannia
The Royal Mint's one-ounce silver bullion coin, launched in 1997 as a silver companion to the Gold Britannia, featuring the same classical Britannia design.
Bullion
George Noble
A short-lived English gold coin of 1526 depicting St. George slaying the dragon, among the rarest coins of Henry VIII's reign.
British
Mexican Silver Libertad
Mexico's widely collected silver bullion coin, sharing the Angel of Independence design with the Gold Libertad and issued in a range of weights since 1982.
Bullion
British Guinea
England's premier gold coin for over 150 years, named for the West African region that supplied much of its gold and eventually valued at 21 shillings.
British
Chinese Platinum Panda
China's platinum bullion coin series, sister to the famous Gold Panda, featuring a new panda design nearly every year since its 1987 debut.
Bullion
South African Krugerrand
The world's first modern gold bullion coin for private investment, introduced in 1967 featuring President Paul Kruger and a springbok antelope, sparking the global gold-coin bullion market.
Bullion
French Franc Germinal
Not a single coin but the bimetallic monetary standard fixed by Napoleon's 1803 law, defining the franc's silver and gold content for over a century.
European
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
Capped Bust Right Half Eagle
America's first five-dollar gold coin, struck 1795-1807 with Liberty facing right under a soft cap, first paired with a small perched eagle reverse and later a bold heraldic eagle.
United States
Laurel
A gold twenty-shilling coin issued from 1619, named for its laureate royal portrait styled after Roman emperors, replacing the earlier Unite as James I's principal gold denomination.
British
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
Unite
A gold twenty-shilling coin introduced by James I in 1604 to celebrate the union of the English and Scottish crowns, its name literally symbolizing the joining of the two kingdoms.
British
Turban Head Eagle
The first U.S. $10 gold coin, struck 1795-1804 and nicknamed 'Turban Head' for Liberty's cap-like headdress; the earliest examples pair her portrait with a small, spread-winged eagle.
United States
Venetian Ducat
Gold coin first struck by the Republic of Venice in 1284, prized for its remarkably consistent weight and purity, which made it a dominant trade coin across medieval and Renaissance Europe.
European
English Sovereign of Henry VII
The first English sovereign, introduced by Henry VII in 1489 as a large, prestigious gold coin showing the king enthroned in majesty, meant to project royal power after the Wars of the Roses.
British