Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Broad
A gold twenty-shilling coin nicknamed the 'Broad' for its wide, thin flan, struck under the Commonwealth and Oliver Cromwell and continued briefly into the early reign of Charles II.
British
Flowing Hair Dollar
The first silver dollar struck by the United States Mint, issued in 1794-1795 with a flowing-haired Liberty and small eagle reverse; the 1794 date is among the rarest and most valuable U.S. coins.
United States
Isabella Quarter
The only U.S. commemorative quarter dollar, struck for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition and featuring Queen Isabella I of Spain, sponsor of Columbus's voyage.
Commemorative
Liberty Cap Half Cent
The first design used on the U.S. half cent, struck from 1793 to 1797, showing Liberty wearing a soft cap on the obverse and a wreath on the reverse.
United States
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
Panama-Pacific $50 Gold (Round)
A massive round commemorative gold piece struck for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, one of the rarest and most valuable U.S. commemorative coins ever issued.
Commemorative
Booker T. Washington Memorial Half Dollar
A commemorative half dollar honoring educator Booker T. Washington, notable as the first U.S. coin designed by an African American sculptor and the first to depict a Black American.
Commemorative
Type 2 Indian Princess Gold Dollar
A short-lived, notoriously weakly struck redesign of the U.S. gold dollar, prized today for its brief production window and the striking difficulties that led to its quick replacement.
United States
New Zealand Penny (KGVI)
New Zealand bronze penny struck under King George VI, notable for its reverse featuring the native tuatara reptile, part of the country's distinctive 1933-launched coin series.
Africa & Oceania
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
Turban Head Eagle
The first U.S. $10 gold coin, struck 1795-1804 and nicknamed 'Turban Head' for Liberty's cap-like headdress; the earliest examples pair her portrait with a small, spread-winged eagle.
United States
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
Draped Bust Dollar
The first regular-issue U.S. silver dollar with the Draped Bust design, struck 1795-1804, featuring a small eagle reverse and later a heraldic eagle reverse.
United States
Bolivian Boliviano Silver
Bolivia's national currency unit, the boliviano, was introduced in the 1860s as a substantial silver coin and remains the country's monetary unit in modern, non-silver form.
Latin American
French Franc Germinal
Not a single coin but the bimetallic monetary standard fixed by Napoleon's 1803 law, defining the franc's silver and gold content for over a century.
European
Mercury Dime
Popular U.S. dime nicknamed for its winged Liberty head, mistaken by many for the Roman god Mercury, designed by Adolph A. Weinman and struck from 1916 to 1945.
United States
Classic Head Quarter Eagle
Struck from 1834 to 1839 after Congress reduced the gold weight of U.S. coins, this quarter eagle dropped the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM and features a simplified Liberty head.
United States
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
German 5 Deutsche Mark Commemoratives
West Germany issued special silver 5 Deutsche Mark coins from the 1950s through the mid-1980s to mark anniversaries, institutions, and notable Germans, alongside its regular circulating 5 DM coin.
Commemorative
Chilean 20 Pesos Gold
The smallest of Chile's regular gold coin denominations, issued both in an earlier 19th-century gold peso series and later as part of the 1926 condor-themed gold reform.
Latin American
Gold Britannia
The United Kingdom's premier gold bullion coin series, launched in 1987, featuring Britannia on the reverse and available in one-ounce and fractional weights.
Bullion
Massachusetts Willow Tree Shilling
The rarest of Massachusetts Bay's tree-series colonial shillings, struck in secret defiance of English law and all frozen with the date 1652 regardless of actual striking year.
United States