Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Grant Memorial Half Dollar
A 1922 U.S. commemorative half dollar honoring the 100th anniversary of Ulysses S. Grant's birth, famous for a rare 'star' variety.
Commemorative
Continental Dollar
A large 1776-dated piece bearing a sundial, 'MIND YOUR BUSINESS,' and a thirteen-link chain, long debated as either an intended Continental Congress dollar or a contemporary satirical piece.
United States
Flowing Hair Half Dollar
The first U.S. half dollar, struck only in 1794 and 1795, showing Liberty with flowing hair and a small, spread-winged eagle on the reverse.
United States
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
Franklin Half Dollar
A 90% silver half dollar (1948-1963) depicting Benjamin Franklin on the obverse and the Liberty Bell on the reverse, designed by John R. Sinnock.
United States
Sun Yat-sen Junk Dollar
A Republic of China silver dollar depicting Sun Yat-sen and a traditional sailing junk, with the scarcer 1934 variety showing three birds overhead that is highly sought by collectors.
Asian
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
Voyageur Silver Dollar
Canada's iconic silver dollar, first struck in 1935 to mark George V's Silver Jubilee, showing a voyageur and Indigenous guide paddling a canoe.
Canadian
Draped Bust Half Dollar
A silver half dollar (1796-1807) showing a draped, classically styled Liberty bust, issued with a small eagle reverse (1796-1797) and later a heraldic eagle reverse (1801-1807).
United States
Missouri Centennial Half Dollar
A 1921 U.S. commemorative half dollar marking Missouri's centennial of statehood, known for a scarcer '2★4' variety.
Commemorative
Arkansas Centennial Half Dollar
A commemorative half dollar marking Arkansas's 100th anniversary of statehood, pairing a Native American profile with an idealized Liberty figure on the obverse.
Commemorative
US Seated Liberty Dollar
Mid-19th century American silver dollar showing Liberty seated on a rock, produced from 1840 until being replaced by the Trade Dollar in 1873.
United States
Stone Mountain Memorial Half Dollar
A 1925 commemorative half dollar depicting Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson on horseback, issued to fund the massive Stone Mountain carving in Georgia.
Commemorative
Maine Centennial Half Dollar
A 1920 U.S. commemorative half dollar issued for the 100th anniversary of Maine's statehood, featuring the state's coat of arms.
Commemorative
Lewis and Clark Gold Dollar Commemorative
A commemorative gold dollar honoring explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, struck in 1904 and 1905 for the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, Oregon.
Commemorative
New Zealand Lord of the Rings Coins (2003)
New Zealand issued legal-tender coins featuring characters and scenes from Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy, celebrating the films' production in the country with both a circulating dollar and premium collector coins.
Commemorative
California Diamond Jubilee Half Dollar
A 1925 commemorative half dollar marking California's 75th anniversary of statehood, featuring a kneeling gold prospector obverse and a walking grizzly bear reverse.
Commemorative
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
Sun Yat-sen Memorial Dollar (Junk Dollar)
A Republic of China silver dollar honoring founding father Sun Yat-sen, nicknamed the junk dollar for its reverse image of a traditional Chinese sailing ship, a widely collected 1930s Chinese coin.
Asian
Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Half Dollar
A 1924 U.S. commemorative half dollar honoring the 300th anniversary of Huguenot and Walloon settlement in New Netherland.
Commemorative
Alabama Centennial Half Dollar
A 1921 U.S. commemorative half dollar for Alabama's statehood centennial, notable for depicting a living person and a scarcer '2X2' variety.
Commemorative
Vermont Sesquicentennial Half Dollar
A 1927 U.S. commemorative half dollar marking the 150th anniversary of Vermont's independence, featuring Ira Allen and a catamount.
Commemorative
Columbian Exposition Half Dollar
The first United States commemorative coin, struck in 1892 and 1893 to mark the 400th anniversary of Columbus's voyage and fund the World's Columbian Exposition.
Commemorative
Monroe Doctrine Centennial Half Dollar
A 1923 U.S. commemorative half dollar marking the 100th anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine, featuring an allegorical map of the Americas.
Commemorative