Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
United States Trade Dollar
A heavier silver dollar issued specifically for trade with China and East Asia, the Trade Dollar circulated internationally before being demonetized and later collected as a design classic.
United States
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
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
Hong Kong Dollar (1866–1868 Silver Dollar)
A short-lived silver dollar struck at Britain's ill-fated Hong Kong Mint, bearing Queen Victoria's portrait and intended to compete with Mexican and Chinese silver in Asian trade.
Asian
California Diamond Jubilee Half Dollar
A 1925 commemorative half dollar marking California's 75th anniversary of statehood, featuring a kneeling gold prospector obverse and a walking grizzly bear reverse.
Commemorative
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
Spanish 8 Reales (Piece of Eight)
The legendary 'piece of eight,' Spain's silver dollar-sized coin that became the world's first truly global currency and the direct ancestor of the U.S. dollar.
World
Carson City Morgan Dollar (CC Mint)
Morgan silver dollars struck at the Carson City Mint, identified by the small CC mintmark, prized for their Wild West mystique and generally lower mintages than Philadelphia or New Orleans issues.
United States
Washington-Carver Half Dollar
A commemorative half dollar jointly honoring Booker T. Washington and George Washington Carver, promoting American ideals and opposing the spread of Communism.
Commemorative
1796 Draped Bust Quarter
The very first quarter dollar struck by the United States Mint, a one-year type coin with a tiny mintage that is treasured by collectors of early American silver.
United States
Chinese Pei Yang (Peiyang) Arsenal Dragon Dollar
Late Qing dynasty silver dollar struck at the Pei Yang Arsenal in Tientsin, prized by collectors for its dragon design and the rarity of certain dated varieties.
Asian
Spanish 8 Reales Portrait Dollar
The globally trusted "Spanish dollar" bearing a king's portrait, minted across Spain's vast colonial empire and so widely circulated it directly inspired the U.S. dollar sign and denomination.
European
Spanish 2 Reales Pillar
The Pillar 2 Reales was a fractional Spanish colonial silver coin featuring the famous Pillars of Hercules design, struck at mints across Spanish America and widely used in international trade.
Latin American
Vermont Sesquicentennial Half Dollar
A 1927 U.S. commemorative half dollar marking the 150th anniversary of Vermont's independence, featuring Ira Allen and a catamount.
Commemorative
1916 Walking Liberty Half Dollar
First-year strike of Adolph Weinman's celebrated Walking Liberty design, prized by collectors for its beauty and for the obverse mintmark unique to 1916 and early 1917.
United States
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
1964 Kennedy Half Dollar (90% Silver)
The first-year Kennedy half dollar, rushed into production after President Kennedy's assassination, struck only in 1964 with a 90% silver composition before the alloy was reduced.
United States
Type 2 Indian Princess Gold Dollar
A short-lived, notoriously weakly struck redesign of the U.S. gold dollar, prized today for its brief production window and the striking difficulties that led to its quick replacement.
United States
Chinese Hupeh Province Dragon Dollar
Silver dragon dollar struck by the Hupeh (Hubei) provincial mint in late Qing China, part of the wave of regional dragon-dollar coinage issued across the empire's provinces.
Asian
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
1878 7/8 Tail Feathers Morgan Dollar
A famous first-year Morgan dollar variety showing an eagle with 7 tail feathers struck over an earlier 8-feather design, resulting from a mid-year design revision by chief engraver George T. Morgan.
Errors & Varieties
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
Chinese Silver Dragon Dollar (Kwangtung Province)
One of China's earliest machine-struck silver dollars, produced by Kwangtung province in the late Qing dynasty with an imperial dragon design, a pioneering issue other provinces soon imitated.
Asian
Chinese Kirin Province Dragon Dollar
A late Qing dynasty silver dollar from China's northeastern Kirin province, widely admired by collectors for the unusually artistic and finely detailed dragon design on several of its issues.
Asian