Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Two Pound Gold (Double Sovereign)
A gold coin worth two pounds sterling and roughly twice the weight of a sovereign, struck mainly for jubilees, coronations, and modern proof or bullion sets rather than daily circulation.
British
Una and the Lion Five Pound
A legendary 1839 gold proof depicting young Queen Victoria as Una leading a lion, widely considered one of the most beautiful coins ever struck and a benchmark of Victorian coin art.
British
British Britannia
The United Kingdom's official gold and silver bullion coin, featuring the classical helmeted figure of Britannia, issued by the Royal Mint since 1987.
Bullion
Somalian Silver Elephant (African Wildlife)
An annually redesigned silver bullion coin featuring an African elephant, issued in the name of Somalia but struck at a German state mint since 2004.
Africa & Oceania
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
Ottoman Rashidi Kurus
A silver kurus variety struck to a distinct local standard within the Ottoman Arabian provinces, less standardized and less commonly catalogued than the empire's main Constantinople coinage.
World
French 5 Francs "Napoleon"
A large silver crown-sized coin bearing the portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte, first as First Consul and later as Emperor, marking France's decimal franc system's early flagship silver denomination.
European
Mexican Emperor Maximilian Peso
A silver peso struck during the brief reign of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, whose short-lived Second Mexican Empire ended with his execution in 1867.
Latin American
Vijayanagara Gold Pagoda
A small, thick gold coin of the South Indian Vijayanagara Empire, typically showing Hindu deities or a bull, whose type became so trusted it was widely imitated as the standard South Indian trade "pagoda."
Asian
Antiochos Seleucid Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm struck for one of several Seleucid kings named Antiochus, featuring a royal portrait obverse and enthroned Apollo reverse typical of the dynasty.
Ancient
Seleukos I Nikator Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm of Seleukos I Nikator, founder of the Seleucid Empire, often showing elephant and Nike-and-trophy imagery celebrating his eastern campaigns.
Ancient
British Gold Guinea
Struck from 1663 to 1814 and named for the West African gold used in its earliest issues, the guinea was Britain's leading gold coin and gave its name to a unit of value still referenced today.
British
Somalia Elephant Silver Coin
A popular annually-redesigned bullion coin issued in the name of Somalia depicting an African elephant, part of a broader African Wildlife series struck by a German mint.
Africa & Oceania
Rwandan Silver African Wildlife
A modern bullion coin series issued under Rwandan sovereignty depicting various African animals, minted in Germany and produced in different subseries by animal theme.
Africa & Oceania
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
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
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
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
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
Austrian Florin (Gulden)
The main silver coin of Austria-Hungary in the second half of the 19th century, used until the krone replaced it in the 1892 monetary reform.
European
Brazilian 960 Reis Silver
A silver crown-sized coin struck in Brazil under Prince Regent João and later Pedro I, famous for often being overstruck directly on circulating Spanish colonial 8-reales pieces.
Latin American
Seljuk Copper Fals
Base-metal copper coin of everyday commerce in the Seljuk Turkish world, notable for unusually rich figural imagery such as lions, suns, and double-headed eagles.
Asian
Half Guinea
Smaller companion gold coin to the guinea, worth half its value, struck across the same reigns from Charles II through George III for mid-value transactions.
British