Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Japanese Nishu-kin (gold coin)
Small rectangular gold coin from Tokugawa Japan valued at two shu, or one-eighth of a ryo, part of a fractional gold denomination system unique to Edo-period currency.
Asian
1877 Indian Head Cent
The premier key date of the Indian Head cent series, struck in unusually low numbers during a mid-1870s economic downturn.
United States
1922 No D Lincoln Cent
A famous Lincoln cent error from Denver where a worn or clogged die produced cents lacking the D mint mark, since Denver was the sole mint striking cents that year.
Errors & Varieties
1875-CC Twenty-Cent Piece
A Carson City strike of the short-lived US twenty-cent piece, valued both for its unusual denomination and its Wild West mint origin.
United States
1856 Flying Eagle Cent
An extremely rare pattern-like small cent struck to convince Congress to approve a new, smaller cent design, and one of the most desired key dates in U.S. coinage.
United States
1857 Flying Eagle Cent
The first-year circulation issue of the Flying Eagle Cent, marking the debut of the small-format cent that replaced the old large copper cent.
United States
1858 Flying Eagle Cent
The final year of the short-lived Flying Eagle Cent, struck in Large Letters and Small Letters varieties before the Indian Head design replaced it in 1859.
United States
Massachusetts Cent (1787-1788)
State-issued copper coinage struck by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1787 and 1788, notable as the first official U.S. coinage to use the denomination 'cent'.
United States
1793 Liberty Cap Half Cent
The first-year half cent, struck in 1793 with a distinctive 'Head Facing Left' Liberty Cap design used only that single year before the design was revised.
United States
1875-S Twenty-Cent Piece
The most commonly encountered date in the short-lived US twenty-cent piece series, struck in large numbers at San Francisco in the coin's debut year.
United States
1876-CC Twenty-Cent Piece
One of the great rarities of United States coinage: a Carson City twenty-cent piece of which nearly the entire mintage was melted, leaving only a small number of survivors known.
United States
British India Silver Rupee (Victoria Empress)
Silver rupee of British India struck under Queen Victoria as Empress of India, the workhorse coin of the Raj's monetary system from 1877 to 1901.
Asian
1944 Steel Lincoln Cent
A scarce transitional error in which a small number of 1944 cents were struck on leftover steel planchets after the Mint had already returned to bronze, the mirror-image counterpart to the famous 1943 copper cent.
Errors & Varieties
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
1795 Liberty Cap Large Cent
An early United States large cent from 1795 featuring the Liberty Cap design, struck as America's young Mint worked out production and metal-supply challenges.
United States
1878 Twenty-Cent Piece (Proof)
The final-year proof-only issue of the US twenty-cent piece, struck for collectors just before Congress formally ended the short-lived denomination.
United States
1877 Twenty-Cent Piece (Proof)
A proof-only issue of the twenty-cent piece, struck for collectors after the denomination had already been abandoned for regular circulation.
United States
1851 Silver Three-Cent Piece
The first-year issue of the tiny Type I silver three-cent piece, nicknamed the trime, created to ease a national shortage of small change and postage-stamp coinage.
United States
South African Mandela R5 Coin
South African circulating commemorative five-rand coin honoring Nelson Mandela, first issued for his 90th birthday in 2008 and again for his birth centenary in 2018.
Commemorative
1995 Doubled Die Lincoln Cent
A widely collected doubled die variety showing clear doubling on LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST on the obverse, notable for being far more available in circulation than earlier famous Lincoln cent doubled dies.
Errors & Varieties
1972 Doubled Die Lincoln Cent
A famous Lincoln cent error showing strong doubling on the obverse date and lettering, caused by a misaligned die hub during production at the Philadelphia Mint.
Errors & Varieties
1967 Centennial Silver Dollar (Goose)
A one-year commemorative Canadian silver dollar struck for the 1967 Centennial of Confederation, its reverse depicting a Canada goose in flight, designed by Alex Colville.
Canadian
1873 Doubled Die Two-Cent Piece
A doubled die variety from the final year of the short-lived two-cent piece, showing noticeable doubling in the date or lettering caused by a die hubbing misalignment.
Errors & Varieties
1999 Susan B. Anthony Dollar
A one-year revival of the Susan B. Anthony dollar, struck in 1999 to meet demand for dollar coins in vending and transit use before the Sacagawea dollar's launch the following year.
United States