Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Penny of Cynethryth
Anglo-Saxon silver penny of Cynethryth, queen of Mercia and wife of Offa, and the only Anglo-Saxon queen named on her own coinage.
Medieval Coins
Aurangzeb Rupee
A broad, hand-struck silver rupee of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (Alamgir), carrying a Persian couplet and mint-and-year data rather than the usual Islamic creed.
Asian
Romania International Year of Chemistry Commemorative
Romanian silver 10 lei commemorative dated 2011, issued for the International Year of Chemistry with molecular, laboratory and scientist imagery.
Commemorative
Junk Dollar
China's Republic-era silver dollar with Sun Yat-sen facing left and a Chinese junk under sail on the reverse; the pictured coin is Year 23 (1934).
Circulation
Roman Denarius
A small hammered silver coin of ancient Rome, showing an emperor's portrait and abbreviated Latin titles on one side and a deity or figure on the other.
Ancient
Maundy Money Penny
Tiny silver penny given as royal alms; this James II example (1687) shows a crowned bust and a crowned Roman numeral I reverse.
Maundy
Draped Bust Dollar
Early U.S. silver dollar struck 1795–1804, with a draped bust of Liberty and, from 1798, a heraldic eagle reverse.
Dollar
Corinthian Stater
Silver stater of ancient Corinth showing the winged horse Pegasos on one side and the helmeted head of Athena on the other.
Ancient Coins
Ancient Greek Didrachm
An ancient Greek silver didrachm worth two drachms, here with a bearded male head and a horse-and-rider reverse in the tradition of Magna Graecia.
Ancient
British Crown
A large George V silver crown of the 1927–1936 'wreath' type, showing the king's profile and a royal crown framed by an ornamental wreath.
British Isles
Medieval Coin
A worn hammered silver coin of the medieval era, with faded profile, legends, and a heraldic or emblematic reverse.
Hammered
Philip and Mary Shilling
Hammered silver shilling of Philip II of Spain and Mary I (1554-1558), showing their paired royal busts and a crowned quartered shield of arms.
Hammered
Abbasi of Shah Sultan Husayn
A hand-struck Safavid silver abbasi of Shah Sultan Husayn, covered entirely in flowing Persian-Arabic calligraphy with jeweled borders and no portrait.
Persia / Iran
Tetradrachm of Eretria
A silver tetradrachm attributed to Eretria on Euboea, pairing the head of a female figure with a standing bull and the Greek legend EYBOIA.
Ancient
Siliqua of Jovian
Small late-Roman silver siliqua of Emperor Jovian (AD 363–364), with his right-facing portrait and a Victory or standing deity reverse.
Ancient
Roman Quinarius
A small Roman silver quinarius, half the value of a denarius, here with a helmeted head of Roma and a prancing horse on the reverse.
Ancient
Denarius of Trajan
Silver denarius of the emperor Trajan (98–117 AD), showing his laureate bust and, on this piece, Libertas standing with patera and rod.
Ancient
Cnidian Drachm
An archaic hand-struck silver drachm of the Greek city of Cnidus, showing the goddess Aphrodite on one side and an eagle on the other.
Ancient
British Groat
A small George III silver fourpence of 1792, the British groat: laureate king's profile obverse, crowned shield and value reverse.
Circulation
Ilkhanid Dirham
A hand-struck silver dirham of the Mongol Ilkhanate, covered in Arabic and Persian inscriptions arranged in a quatrefoil cartouche and concentric bands.
Islamic (Medieval)
Gobrecht Dollar
U.S. silver dollar of 1836 by engraver Christian Gobrecht, pairing a Seated Liberty obverse with a flying-eagle reverse; a rare pattern-era issue.
Dollar
Kennedy Half Dollar
U.S. fifty-cent piece introduced in 1964 to honor President John F. Kennedy; the first-year 1964 coins were struck in 90% silver.
United States
Antoninianus of Aurelian
Late Roman billon coin of Emperor Aurelian, showing his radiate-crowned bust and a standing deity or personification on the reverse.
Ancient Coins
Syracuse Tetradrachm
Classical silver tetradrachm of Syracuse in Sicily, showing a racing four-horse chariot on one side and a right-facing nymph's head on the other.
Ancient