Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
2 Euro Coin
The highest-denomination circulating euro coin, with a silver-colored center inside a gold-colored ring, widely used by member states to issue popular commemorative designs collected across Europe.
European
2008 Beijing Olympics Commemorative Coins
China issued a large multi-year coin program ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, spanning circulating 1 Yuan pieces and extensive gold and silver proof series depicting Olympic sports and Beijing landmarks.
Commemorative
Maria Theresa Thaler
An Austrian silver trade coin dated 1780 that has been restruck continuously for over two centuries, remaining a trusted currency across parts of Africa and the Middle East long after its original issue.
European
German Empire 5 Mark
A large silver crown of Imperial Germany bearing the portrait or arms of individual constituent states, unified under a common eagle reverse after German unification in 1871.
European
Philippine Peso (US Administration, 1903)
Silver one-peso coin struck for the Philippines under early American colonial administration, part of a new US-designed coinage system introduced in 1903.
Asian
1794 Flowing Hair Half Dollar
The first half dollar ever struck by the United States Mint, produced in tiny numbers and ranking among the most desirable early American silver coins.
United States
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
1853 Seated Liberty Quarter (Arrows and Rays)
A popular one-year Seated Liberty type marked by arrows at the date and rays around the eagle, signaling a reduction in the coin's silver weight mandated by the Coinage Act of 1853.
United States
Ptolemy I Soter Tetradrachm
A silver tetradrachm bearing the realistic portrait of Ptolemy I Soter, founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, whose eagle-on-thunderbolt reverse became the enduring badge of Ptolemaic coinage.
Ancient
Flowing Hair Half Dime
One of the earliest United States silver coins, the Flowing Hair Half Dime was struck only in 1794 and 1795 and is a landmark rarity for early American coinage collectors.
United States
Netherlands Lion Daalder (Leeuwendaalder)
A large silver trade coin of the Dutch provinces showing a knight and a rampant lion, widely circulated in colonial North America and the Ottoman world as the prototype 'lion dollar.'
European
Draped Bust Half Dime
Struck in small numbers from 1796 to 1805, the Draped Bust Half Dime is an early U.S. silver rarity featuring Robert Scot's Draped Bust Liberty portrait and small or heraldic eagle reverses.
United States
Polish-Lithuanian Thaler
The large silver trade coin of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, struck under successive kings from the 16th through 18th centuries, bearing royal portraits paired with the combined Polish eagle and Lithuanian Vytis arms.
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
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
Italian Scudo (Papal States)
A large silver coin issued by the Papal States under successive popes, blending religious imagery with the temporal authority of the papacy.
European
German Bavaria Thaler
A large silver crown-sized coin issued by the Bavarian state, one of many German territorial thalers struck before German unification.
European
Bremen Thaler
A silver thaler of the free Hanseatic city of Bremen, typically featuring the city's key emblem, issued for centuries as an independent trading city's own coinage.
European
Chalkidian League Apollo Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm issued by the Chalkidian League of northern Greek cities, showing the laureate head of Apollo and a lyre, minted at Olynthus.
Ancient
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
Philippine 50 Centavos (Commonwealth, 1936)
A special 1936 silver 50-centavo coin marking the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, issued in two paired-portrait varieties honoring Quezon alongside Murphy or Roosevelt.
Asian
Roosevelt Dime
Issued since 1946 in honor of Franklin D. Roosevelt, this dime is struck in 90% silver through 1964 and copper-nickel clad afterward, and remains in circulation today.
United States
British Crown
Valued at five shillings, the British crown is a large silver (and later cupro-nickel) coin with a production history stretching from Tudor England to modern commemorative issues.
British
Hadrian Travel Series Denarius
A celebrated series of silver denarii issued late in Hadrian's reign, personifying the many provinces he famously toured throughout the Roman Empire.
Ancient