Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Double Sovereign
A British gold coin worth two pounds, twice the value of the standard sovereign, struck intermittently since the nineteenth century for commemorative and bullion purposes.
British
Florin (Two Shillings)
A British silver coin worth two shillings, notable for the controversial 1849 'Godless Florin' that omitted the customary religious motto, and for foreshadowing decimal coinage.
British
Saudi Arabian Gold Guinea (Sovereign)
A gold coin issued by Saudi Arabia sized like the British sovereign, popularly called a guinea, historically important for Hajj pilgrims and gold-based savings rather than everyday circulation.
Asian
St George Sovereign (Pistrucci)
The modern gold sovereign's iconic reverse showing St George slaying the dragon, engraved by Benedetto Pistrucci in 1817 and still used on British sovereigns to this day.
British
Gothic Crown
An ornate Victorian silver crown featuring a young Queen Victoria in Gothic-script lettering, widely admired as one of the most artistically accomplished coins in British history.
British
Five Pound Gold (Quintuple Sovereign)
The largest standard gold coin in the British sovereign family, worth five pounds and equal to five sovereigns, struck intermittently since 1820 for commemorative and collector purposes.
British
New Zealand Waitangi Crown (1935)
Rare 1935 New Zealand silver crown depicting the meeting between Governor Hobson and Maori chiefs, one of the most valuable coins in British Commonwealth crown collecting.
Africa & Oceania
Immune Columbia Copper
An extremely rare Confederation-era copper carrying the Latin legend 'IMMUNIS COLUMBIA,' known for numerous unusual die combinations and mules with other early American and British designs.
United States
Chinese Szechuan Rupee (Tibet-related)
Silver rupee struck by China's Szechuan provincial mint to compete with British Indian rupees circulating in Tibet, blending a Chinese ruler's portrait with an Indian-style coin format.
Asian
Postumus Antoninianus
Radiate coin of Postumus, the general who broke away from Rome to found the separatist Gallic Empire covering Gaul, Britain, Germania, and Hispania during the Crisis of the Third Century.
Ancient
Half Crown
A long-lived British coin worth one-eighth of a pound, struck from the Tudor era until decimalisation in 1970, valued today mainly for its portraits and design variety.
British
Maundy Penny
The smallest coin of the four-piece Royal Maundy set, a tiny silver penny given by the British monarch in an ancient Holy Thursday alms ceremony, minted every year in very limited numbers.
British
2012 London Olympics 50p Series
The Royal Mint issued 29 different circulating 50 pence coins in 2011, each honoring a different sport of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, sparking a nationwide coin-collecting craze in Britain.
Commemorative
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
Spanish Gold Escudo (Doubloon)
The gold denomination of the Spanish Empire, whose larger multiples became famous as "doubloons," struck both in Spain and across its American colonial mints for centuries.
European
Maundy Threepence
The third denomination of the Royal Maundy set, a small silver threepence given out in the monarch's annual pre-Easter alms ceremony, distinct from Britain's separate everyday circulating threepence.
British
Brazilian 6400 Reis Gold (Peça)
A substantial colonial Brazilian gold coin nicknamed the "peça" (piece), widely known abroad as the "Johannes" or "Joe," and once common in trade across the Atlantic world.
Latin American
Brazilian 960 Reis Silver
A silver crown-sized coin struck in Brazil under Prince Regent João and later Pedro I, famous for often being overstruck directly on circulating Spanish colonial 8-reales pieces.
Latin American
Guatemala 8 Reales
A silver piece of eight struck at the Guatemala City mint, first under Spanish colonial rule and later continued through the Central American Federation and independent Guatemala.
Latin American
Australian Holey Dollar and Dump
In 1813, colonial authorities in New South Wales punched the centers out of Spanish silver dollars to create two coins from one, easing a severe coin shortage while preventing the silver from leaving the colony.
Africa & Oceania
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
Byzantine Solidus
The gold standard coin of the Byzantine Empire for over 700 years, the solidus funded an empire, financed trade across three continents, and remained one of history's most stable currencies.
Ancient
Mexican 8 Reales Pillar Dollar
Minted in colonial Mexico City from 1732 to the early 1770s, the pillar dollar's crowned globes and Pillars of Hercules design made it one of the most widely trusted silver trade coins in the world.
Latin American
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