Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
British Half Crown
British silver half crown of King George V, worth two shillings and sixpence, with the king's bare left-facing head and a crowned shield of arms.
British Isles
East India Company Half Anna
Large copper Half Anna of the East India Company, dated 1835, with laurel-wreath legend and the Company's heraldic lion-and-shield arms.
British India
Short Cross Penny
Hammered silver penny of Henry II showing a crowned facing-left royal portrait and a cross-crosslet (cross-and-crosslets) reverse.
Medieval Coins
Egypt 20 Qirsh
The 20 qirsh was Egypt's largest silver coin under the Khedivate, bearing the Ottoman sultan's tughra; this example dates to 1905.
World
Edward III Noble
Large medieval English gold coin of King Edward III, showing the crowned king standing in a ship and an ornate floral cross on the reverse.
Medieval Coins
Edward III Groat
Hammered silver fourpence of King Edward III, showing a crowned bust of the king and a long cross with pellets in the quarters.
Medieval Coins
Prussian Taler
A large silver taler of the Kingdom of Prussia showing the crowned profile of Frederick II and a heraldic coat of arms, struck through the mid-to-late 1700s.
German States
Maundy One Penny
The smallest British Maundy silver coin, bearing a crowned Roman numeral I; this example was struck in 1687 under James II.
Maundy
British Farthing
Small copper farthing of King George II, with his laureate bust facing left and a seated Britannia on the reverse; struck in the 1730s.
British Isles
Hanover-Luneburg 1.5 Thaler
A large silver 1.5 Thaler of Brunswick-Luneburg (Hanover), dated 1681, with a busy multi-shield heraldic design and the motto SOL BONA QUE HONESTA.
German States
Ilkhanid Dirham of Abu Said
A hand-struck Mongol Ilkhanate silver dirham of Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan, with the ruler's titles set in a cartouche and religious inscriptions in concentric bands.
Islamic (Medieval)
British Florin
A Victorian silver two-shilling florin with a crowned, veiled Victoria and a heraldic crowned-shields reverse; the pictured coin is dated 1890.
World
20 Para
A small base-metal coin of socialist Yugoslavia, showing the value 20 with the date 1974 on one side and the six-flame Yugoslav state emblem on the other.
Modern
500 Reis
A Portuguese silver 500 Reis of Queen Maria II, with her left-facing draped bust on the obverse and a crowned coat of arms on the reverse.
Modern
American Plantations Token
A 1688 tin token struck under James II for England's American colonies, valued at 1/24 of a Spanish real — the first regal-authorized coinage for British America.
Colonial
Tymf
A debased Polish silver coin of 1663 tariffed at 30 groszy, famous for a Latin motto declaring the state's safety worth more than the metal.
Early Modern
Maundy Money Threepence
A tiny sterling-silver British threepence; the 1687 James II example shows a crowned bust and a crowned Roman numeral III on the reverse.
Maundy
Canadian Ten Cents
Small silver Canadian dime with the Bluenose schooner reverse and an early Queen Elizabeth II portrait; the pictured coin is dated 1955.
Canadian & Provincial
Styca of Aethelred
Small base-metal coin of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, naming King Aethelred, with a central device and legend on one face and a cross on the other.
Medieval Coins
20 Kronor
Gold 20 kronor of Sweden showing the crowned national arms with three coronets, reverse marked 20 KR and dated 1925.
World
25 Gulden
The gold 25 Gulden of the Free City of Danzig, dated 1923, pairing the lion-supported Danzig arms with an armed female figure holding a trident.
Modern
20 Fillér
An early 20th-century Hungarian 20 fillér, a small base-metal coin showing the crowned Hungarian coat of arms and the FILLÉR minor denomination.
Modern
Byzantine Follis
Large bronze follis of the Byzantine Empire, this example under Constans II (from 641 AD), with an imperial portrait and a big M value mark topped by a cross.
Medieval
Edward III Half Noble
Medieval English gold coin worth half a noble, this example showing King Edward III crowned with heraldic devices and a shielded, ornamented reverse.
Medieval Coins