Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Vespasian Judaea Capta Sestertius
A large bronze coin of Emperor Vespasian commemorating Rome's suppression of the Jewish Revolt, showing a mourning captive beneath a palm tree with the legend IVDAEA CAPTA.
Ancient
Domitian Denarius
Silver coin of the last Flavian emperor, Domitian, whose lengthy autocratic reign produced abundant, well-struck denarii before his assassination and damnatio memoriae.
Ancient
Probus Antoninianus
Radiate coin of Probus, a capable soldier-emperor who defended the frontiers against Germanic incursions and issued coinage noted for elaborate consular and military portrait styles.
Ancient
Maximinus Thrax Denarius
Silver denarius of Maximinus Thrax, the first Roman emperor risen from the common soldiery rather than the senatorial class, ruling amid the onset of the Crisis of the Third Century.
Ancient
Elagabalus Denarius
Silver denarius of the teenage Syrian priest-emperor Elagabalus, whose brief, scandal-ridden reign is reflected in unusual reverse types tied to his sun-god cult.
Ancient
Caracalla Antoninianus
The first antoninianus coins, introduced by Caracalla in 215 AD as a debased double-denarius identified by the emperor's radiate crown.
Ancient
Julia Domna Denarius
Silver denarius of Julia Domna, Syrian-born wife of Septimius Severus and mother of Caracalla, a politically influential empress of the Severan dynasty.
Ancient
Septimius Severus Denarius
Silver denarius of Septimius Severus, African-born founder of the Severan dynasty, who rose to power through the civil wars following Commodus's death.
Ancient
Faustina the Younger Denarius
Silver denarius of Faustina the Younger, daughter of Antoninus Pius and wife of Marcus Aurelius, whose coinage emphasizes fertility and family themes.
Ancient
Commodus Denarius
Silver denarius of Commodus, the erratic son of Marcus Aurelius, whose later coinage famously depicted him as Hercules with lion skin and club.
Ancient
Faustina the Elder Denarius
Posthumous silver denarius honoring Faustina the Elder, wife of Antoninus Pius, struck for two decades after her death and deification in 140/141 AD.
Ancient
Ottoman Rashidi Kurus
A silver kurus variety struck to a distinct local standard within the Ottoman Arabian provinces, less standardized and less commonly catalogued than the empire's main Constantinople coinage.
World
French 5 Francs "Napoleon"
A large silver crown-sized coin bearing the portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte, first as First Consul and later as Emperor, marking France's decimal franc system's early flagship silver denomination.
European
Mexican Emperor Maximilian Peso
A silver peso struck during the brief reign of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, whose short-lived Second Mexican Empire ended with his execution in 1867.
Latin American
Vijayanagara Gold Pagoda
A small, thick gold coin of the South Indian Vijayanagara Empire, typically showing Hindu deities or a bull, whose type became so trusted it was widely imitated as the standard South Indian trade "pagoda."
Asian
Abdera Griffin Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm of the Thracian city of Abdera, featuring the mythical griffin inherited from its mother-city Teos, with magistrates' names on the reverse.
Ancient
Akragas (Agrigentum) Eagle and Crab Tetradrachm
A silver tetradrachm from the wealthy Sicilian city of Akragas, pairing an eagle, symbol of Zeus, with a river crab representing the city's local waterways.
Ancient
Cyzicus Electrum Stater
An electrum stater from the trading city of Cyzicus on the Sea of Marmara, part of one of the most important and long-lived precious-metal trade currencies of the ancient world.
Ancient
Leontini Lion Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm of the Sicilian city of Leontini, showing the laureate head of Apollo and a lion's head or lion with barley grains, alluding to the city's wheat production.
Ancient
Elis Olympia Zeus Stater
A silver stater struck by the city-state of Elis, guardian of the sanctuary of Olympia, showing Zeus on the obverse and his sacred eagle on the reverse.
Ancient
Naxos Silenus Tetradrachm (Sicily)
A silver tetradrachm from the Sicilian Greek colony of Naxos, celebrated for its masterful head of Dionysos and a vividly rendered seated Silenus on the reverse.
Ancient
Aegina Land Tortoise Stater
A silver stater from the island of Aegina bearing a land tortoise, successor to the earlier sea-turtle design and among the earliest widely circulated coinages in the Greek world.
Ancient
Ephesus Bee Tetradrachm
A silver coin from the Ionian city of Ephesus featuring a bee, sacred symbol of the great Temple of Artemis, paired with a stag on the reverse.
Ancient
Rhodes Rose and Helios Tetradrachm
A silver tetradrachm from the island of Rhodes, pairing a radiant frontal head of the sun god Helios with the island's punning emblem, a rose.
Ancient