Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
1866 Shield Nickel With Rays
The first-year Shield Nickel design featuring thirteen rays between the reverse stars, marking the debut of the United States' first copper-nickel five-cent coin.
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
1943 'V' Victory Nickel (tombac)
A wartime Canadian five-cent coin struck in golden tombac with a bold V for Victory and a Morse code message around its edge, issued when nickel metal was diverted to the war effort.
Canadian
Roosevelt Dime
Issued since 1946 in honor of Franklin D. Roosevelt, this dime is struck in 90% silver through 1964 and copper-nickel clad afterward, and remains in circulation today.
United States
Walking Liberty Half Dollar
Widely admired U.S. half dollar designed by Adolph A. Weinman, depicting Liberty striding toward the sun and a bold eagle on the reverse; its obverse design was later revived for the Silver Eagle.
United States
Connecticut Copper
State-authorized copper coinage struck for Connecticut in the mid-1780s, featuring a bust obverse and seated Liberty reverse across numerous die varieties.
United States
1805 Draped Bust Quarter
A far more available date than the famous 1804, the 1805 quarter is a popular representative of the Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle type for collectors building an early American type set.
United States
1804 Draped Bust Quarter
The key date of the short Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle quarter series, the 1804 issue had a very small original mintage and ranks among the rarest and most valuable early United States quarters in any condition.
United States
Nova Constellatio Copper
Distinctive early American copper coin featuring a radiant eye within a circle of stars, associated with Gouverneur Morris's proposed decimal coinage plans of the early 1780s.
United States
Vermont Copper
Copper coinage struck under authority of the independent Vermont Republic in the 1780s, featuring an early landscape design and later a Britannia-style type.
United States
New Jersey Copper
State-authorized copper coinage struck for New Jersey in the late 1780s, famous for its horse-head-and-plow obverse and shield reverse design.
United States
Royal Canadian Mint Colored Poppy Quarter (2004)
Canada's 2004 poppy quarter is widely credited as the world's first coin with a colored design produced for general circulation, honoring Canadian war remembrance with a red poppy at its center.
Commemorative
German Empire 5 Mark
A large silver crown of Imperial Germany bearing the portrait or arms of individual constituent states, unified under a common eagle reverse after German unification in 1871.
European
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
Kellogg & Co. Gold Piece
Private gold coinage struck by the San Francisco firm Kellogg & Co. during the California Gold Rush, including the famous octagonal fifty-dollar 'slug' of 1855, filling a shortage of circulating coin.
United States
Papal States Scudo
The principal silver coin of the Papal States, bearing the portrait or arms of the reigning pope alongside religious imagery, struck for centuries until the Papal territories' loss of independence.
European
Chinese Wu Zhu Cash
One of history's longest-running coin types, cast continuously for over seven centuries across multiple Chinese dynasties after its introduction under Emperor Wu of Han.
Ancient
English Crown
A large English silver coin worth five shillings, first struck under Henry VIII, that became one of Britain's most artistically celebrated denominations before decimalization.
British
Unite
A gold twenty-shilling coin introduced by James I in 1604 to celebrate the union of the English and Scottish crowns, its name literally symbolizing the joining of the two kingdoms.
British
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
Polish-Lithuanian Thaler
The large silver trade coin of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, struck under successive kings from the 16th through 18th centuries, bearing royal portraits paired with the combined Polish eagle and Lithuanian Vytis arms.
European
British Crown
Valued at five shillings, the British crown is a large silver (and later cupro-nickel) coin with a production history stretching from Tudor England to modern commemorative issues.
British
Quarter Guinea
A rarely issued small gold coin worth one-quarter of a guinea, struck only in 1718 under George I and again briefly in 1762 under George III.
British
Crown
Large British coin traditionally worth five shillings, historically struck in silver and famed for elaborate designs, now issued mainly as a cupro-nickel commemorative.
British