Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Capped Bust Right Half Eagle
America's first five-dollar gold coin, struck 1795-1807 with Liberty facing right under a soft cap, first paired with a small perched eagle reverse and later a bold heraldic eagle.
United States
Liberty Head V Nickel
Struck from 1883 to 1912 (with five secretly made 1913 examples), the Liberty Head Nickel is famous for its 1883 'No CENTS' variety and its ultra-rare 1913 issue.
United States
Shield Nickel
The first copper-nickel five-cent coin, the Shield Nickel features a national shield on the obverse and was issued from 1866 to 1883, including rare rays and proof-only dates.
United States
Liberty Head Half Eagle ($5)
A widely produced 19th-century gold five-dollar coin bearing Christian Gobrecht's Coronet Head design, struck across nearly every major American branch mint of the era.
United States
1883 No Cents Liberty Head Nickel
The first-year Liberty Head Nickel design that omitted the word CENTS from the reverse, later infamous as the 'Racketeer Nickel' after being gold-plated and passed off as a five-dollar coin.
United States
Portuguese 1000 Reis
A large silver crown of the Kingdom of Portugal, bearing the reigning monarch's portrait and national arms, serving as the country's principal high-value silver coin before the 1910 republic.
European
Hungarian Ducat
A remarkably long-lived gold coin of the Kingdom of Hungary, showing St. Ladislaus and the Madonna and Child, prized for centuries as one of Europe's most trusted trade coins.
European
Kroisos (Croeseid) Gold Stater of Lydia
A pure gold stater struck under King Croesus of Lydia, part of history's first coinage issued in separate fixed-purity gold and silver denominations.
Ancient
Half Groat
A small hammered silver coin worth half the value of the groat, or two pence, struck across three centuries of English coinage from the reign of Edward III through the Stuart era.
British
Australian Threepence (pre-decimal)
Small pre-decimal Australian silver coin worth three pence, popularly recognized for its bundled wheat-ear reverse design used across most of the 20th century.
Africa & Oceania
Capped Bust Half Eagle
John Reich's 1807 redesign turned Liberty to face left and added drapery to her bust, replacing the earlier Capped Bust to Right half eagle for a five-year run before the Capped Head type arrived.
United States
Prussian Vereinsthaler
A standardized silver thaler struck by the Kingdom of Prussia under the 1857 Vienna Monetary Treaty, unifying weight and fineness across many German and Austrian states before German unification.
European
Guinea
Historic British gold coin named for the West African region that supplied much of its gold, valued at 21 shillings for most of its history and predecessor to the modern sovereign.
British
British Trade Dollar
A silver trade dollar struck by Britain to compete with the Mexican and Spanish dollars circulating across Hong Kong, China, and Southeast Asia.
Asian
Visigothic Gold Tremissis
Small gold coin of the Visigothic kings of Spain, evolving from crude imitations of Roman/Byzantine coinage into the first distinctly national royal coinage of post-Roman Western Europe.
European
Ostrogothic Silver Quarter Siliqua
Small silver coin struck by the Ostrogothic kings of Italy in the name of the reigning Byzantine emperor, bearing the Gothic king's monogram on the reverse.
European
Italian 10 Lire (Silver)
Kingdom of Italy silver 10 Lire coin, best known for the 1926–1930 'Biga' type showing a two-horse chariot, struck under Vittorio Emanuele III.
European
French Louis d'Or
The Louis d'Or was the principal gold coin of the French monarchy for over 150 years, named after the kings Louis who issued it, and struck until the eve of the Revolution.
European
Prussian Thaler
The Prussian Thaler was the leading silver coin of the powerful Kingdom of Prussia, circulating from the mid-18th century until German unification replaced it with the mark in 1871–1873.
European
Panticapaeum Gold Stater (Pan/Griffin)
Gold stater of Panticapaeum, capital of the Bosporan Kingdom on the Crimean peninsula, showing the bearded head of Pan and a griffin standing on a grain ear.
Ancient
Nabataean Silver Drachm (Aretas IV)
Silver coin of Aretas IV, the most powerful king of the Nabataean Kingdom centered on Petra, often showing his portrait jugate with Queen Shaquilat.
Ancient
Venezuela Bolivar Silver (Bolívar Fuerte)
A large silver five-bolívares coin nicknamed the "fuerte" (strong) for its full weight and fineness, featuring a portrait of independence hero Simón Bolívar.
Latin American
Byzantine Gold Tremissis
A small gold fractional coin worth one-third of a solidus, widely struck across the early Byzantine world and imitated by Germanic successor kingdoms in the former Western Roman Empire.
Ancient
Abbasid Gold Dinar
The standard gold coin of the Abbasid Caliphate centered on Baghdad, inscribed entirely in Arabic script and struck for roughly five centuries across a vast Islamic empire.
World