Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Spanish Colonial 8 Reales (Milled Bust)
The milled-bust Spanish colonial 8 reales—the classic “piece of eight,” a large silver coin bearing the Spanish king's portrait and royal arms.
Colonial
Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle
United States $20 gold coin (1907–1933) designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, showing a striding Liberty with torch and olive branch before a radiant sun.
Gold Type Coin
Maria Theresa Thaler
A large silver Austrian trade coin bearing the bust of Empress Maria Theresa, famously frozen at the date 1780 and restruck for centuries.
World
Spanish Colonial 4 Reales
A large silver colonial coin worth half a Spanish dollar, struck for Spain's American empire and bearing the crowned Spanish royal arms.
Colonial
Counterstamped 8 Reales
A Charles IV silver 8 reales later punched with counterstamps and pierced with a central hole, layering a second life onto the classic Spanish dollar.
Colonial
8 Reales (Portrait/Bust Type)
Large silver Spanish Empire dollar showing the bust of King Carlos III and a crowned coat of arms with lions and castles.
World Coins
Spanish Colonial 2 Reales (Milled)
A small milled silver coin of the Spanish Empire, struck in colonial American mints; this example is dated 1776 and shows heraldic lions, castles and a crowned shield.
Colonial
French Indochina Piastre
A 1928 silver piastre of French Indochina, its obverse showing seated Liberty with torch and laurel, its reverse reading UNION INDOCHINE FRANÇAISE in a floral wreath.
Southeast Asia
Panama-Pacific Exposition $50 (Octagonal)
An eight-sided $50 gold commemorative struck for San Francisco's 1915 world's fair, showing Minerva and her owl — the largest U.S. coin of its era.
Classic Commemorative
Calpurnia Denarius
Silver Roman Republican denarius of the Calpurnia gens: a right-facing male head on the obverse and a galloping horseman with inscription on the reverse.
Ancient
Manlius Vulso Æ Sextans
Small Roman Republican bronze sextans signed by the moneyer Manlius Vulso, with a capped male head and the classic prow reverse marked ROMA.
Ancient
Nasidius Denarius
Roman Republican silver denarius struck for Sextus Pompey's admiral Q. Nasidius, showing Pompey the Great's head and a galley marked NASIDIVS.
Ancient
Denarius of Cn. Pompeius Magnus
Silver Roman Republican denarius of the Pompeian party (46–45 BC), with a bearded portrait of Pompey the Great and a galley reverse reading PRO COS.
Ancient
Denarius of C. Antius Restio
Silver Roman Republican denarius struck at Rome in 47 BC by the moneyer C. Antius Restio, pairing an ancestor's portrait with a striding figure and trophy.
Ancient
Ho-Nan 100 Cash
A large struck bronze 100-cash coin of Henan Province from Republican China, with ornate Chinese characters on one face and a decorative pattern on the other.
Cash Coin
Republic 1 Fen
A holed copper 1 fen of Republican China, showing a numeral 1 with Chinese characters on one side and flowering plum blossoms on the other, around a central square-ish hole.
Circulation
Edward IV Angel
Medieval English gold coin showing Saint Michael the Archangel slaying a dragon-demon, with a heraldic cross-and-shield reverse.
Medieval Coins
Guangdong 20 Cents
A silver 20-cent coin of Kwangtung (Guangdong) province, struck under the Guangxu Emperor with a coiled dragon on one side and Chinese legends on the other.
Circulation
Edward IV Half Angel
Medieval English gold coin of King Edward IV, half the value of the angel, showing Saint Michael slaying a dragon with a spear and shield.
Medieval Coins
Hong Kong 20 Cents
A small British Hong Kong silver 20 Cents of Edward VII, with the crowned royal profile on one side and a Chinese dragon and value on the other.
Circulation
Victorian Crown
Large Victorian silver crown showing Queen Victoria's veiled "Old Head" portrait and Pistrucci's Saint George slaying the dragon, dated 1893.
World Coins
Crown of George IV
A milled silver crown of George IV, with a laureate head facing left and Pistrucci's St George and the dragon on the reverse; the photographed piece is dated 1822.
Milled
Sovereign of George IV
A milled gold sovereign of Great Britain struck under George IV, with the king's laureate head and Pistrucci's St George slaying the dragon reverse, dated 1821.
Milled
1 Hwan
A late-Joseon Korean bronze coin of one hwan, carrying a chrysanthemum-and-cartouche obverse and a traditional dragon motif with East Asian characters on the reverse.
Historic