Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
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
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
George V Twenty-Five Cents (silver)
Canada's silver twenty-five-cent coin struck under King George V, a series notable for its famous 1921 key date and a rare 1936 emergency dot variety.
Canadian
Victoria Fifty Cents (half dollar)
Canada's silver fifty-cent piece struck under Queen Victoria from 1870 to 1901, featuring her portrait and a heraldic shield-and-wreath reverse.
Canadian
1870 Victoria Twenty-Five Cents
The first twenty-five-cent coin struck for the newly formed Dominion of Canada, issued in 1870 to replace the earlier, often-confused 1858 twenty-cent piece.
Canadian
Beaver Five Cents (Elizabeth II)
The long-running Canadian five-cent coin under Queen Elizabeth II, continuing the classic beaver-on-a-rock design first introduced in 1922 across changing metal compositions.
Canadian
1951 Nickel Commemorative Five Cents
A special Canadian five-cent coin marking the 200th anniversary of the isolation of the element nickel, struck in the metal itself to honor Canada's role as a leading nickel producer.
Commemorative
1922 Canadian Nickel Five Cents
The first year Canada's five-cent coin was struck in solid nickel rather than silver, introducing the beaver reverse design that would define the coin for decades.
Canadian
1883 With Cents Liberty Head Nickel
The corrected version of the 1883 Liberty Head Nickel with CENTS added below the wreath, issued later the same year to stop widespread gold-plating fraud tied to the earlier No Cents design.
United States
1888/7 Indian Head Cent Overdate
A scarce overdate variety of the Indian Head cent in which traces of an underlying 7 are visible beneath the final 8 in the 1888 date, from a working die repunched with a new year.
Errors & Varieties
1970-S Small Date Lincoln Cent
A scarcer date-size variety of the 1970-S Lincoln cent featuring a smaller, lower-positioned 7 in the date compared to the more common large date variety struck the same year.
Errors & Varieties
1917 Doubled Die Obverse Lincoln Cent
One of the earliest known doubled die varieties in the Lincoln cent series, showing visible doubling in the date and lettering on an early 20th-century wheat cent.
Errors & Varieties
1983 Doubled Die Reverse Lincoln Cent
A notable doubled die variety showing bold doubling on the reverse lettering of the Lincoln Memorial cent, particularly visible on ONE CENT, from the first full year of the copper-plated zinc cent.
Errors & Varieties
George VI Small Cent (Maple Twig)
Canada's bronze one-cent coin issued under King George VI, featuring two maple leaves on a twig, a design that helped modernize Canadian coinage in the late 1930s.
Canadian
1969-S Doubled Die Lincoln Cent
A rare and valuable San Francisco Mint doubled die error from 1969, showing strong hub doubling on the obverse date and lettering.
Errors & Varieties
1873 Two-Cent Piece (Proof Only)
The final year of the two-cent piece, struck only in proof for collectors rather than for circulation, and split into Closed 3 and Open 3 date varieties.
United States
1860 Indian Head Cent (Oak Wreath)
The redesigned Indian Head cent introducing the oak wreath and shield reverse that would remain in use, with only a metal change in 1864, through the end of the series in 1909.
United States
1969-S Doubled Die Obverse Lincoln Cent
A famous and dramatic doubled die obverse Lincoln cent from the San Francisco Mint, showing strong, easily visible doubling and ranking among the most valuable Lincoln cent doubled die varieties.
Errors & Varieties
1955 Poor Man's Doubled Die Lincoln Cent
A more common, lower-value doubled die variety on the 1955 Lincoln cent, nicknamed the 'poor man's' version because it offers a similar doubled-image look to the famous 1955 Doubled Die Obverse at a fraction of the price.
Errors & Varieties
1873 Open 3 vs Closed 3 Indian Head Cent
Two distinct date logotype varieties of the 1873 Indian Head cent, distinguished by whether the top loop of the final 3 in the date is nearly closed or clearly open.
Errors & Varieties
1960 Large Date over Small Date Lincoln Cent
A date-size variety of the 1960 Lincoln cent in which large and small date logotypes were both used during the year, with some pieces showing evidence of one date style impressed over the other.
Errors & Varieties
1804 Draped Bust Quarter
The key date of the short Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle quarter series, the 1804 issue had a very small original mintage and ranks among the rarest and most valuable early United States quarters in any condition.
United States
1805 Draped Bust Quarter
A far more available date than the famous 1804, the 1805 quarter is a popular representative of the Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle type for collectors building an early American type set.
United States
Julian II Bull Bronze
A large bronze maiorina of Julian the Apostate with a bull reverse, associated with his brief attempt to revive traditional pagan worship in Rome.
Ancient