Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
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
Medieval Halfgroat of Henry VII
Hammered silver twopence of England's first Tudor king, with a crowned royal portrait and a long-cross reverse over a shield.
British Isles
British Pre-Decimal Halfpenny
Bronze British halfpenny worth 1/480 of a pound. The George V type shows the king's profile and a seated Britannia with trident.
British Isles
French Semeuse 50 Centimes
A small French silver coin showing the striding Semeuse (Sower) with a liberty cap; the reverse frames the value 50 CENTIMES in an oak-and-olive wreath.
Circulation
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
2.5 Escudos
A copper-nickel 2.5 Escudos of the Portuguese Republic, showing a sailing caravel on the obverse and the national shield with the value 2$50.
Modern
Charles II Twopence
A small milled twopence of Charles II, showing the king's profile bust on the obverse and a crowned mark of value on the reverse.
Milled
Irish Gun Money Halfcrown (30 Pence)
Emergency base-metal halfcrown struck for James II in Ireland during 1689–1690, valued at 30 pence and carrying his portrait and, on many issues, the month of striking.
Emergency Coinage
Australian Fifty Cents
Australia's 50 cent coin bearing the national coat of arms. The 1966 round issue shown here was struck in silver; later 12-sided coins are cupronickel.
Australian
Guangxu Yuanbao 50 Cents
A Qing-dynasty silver half-dollar bearing the legend Guangxu Yuanbao and a coiled dragon, struck by Chinese provincial mints during the Guangxu Emperor's reign.
Circulation
Philip III Gold Stater
A Macedonian gold stater struck under Philip III Arrhidaeus, half-brother of Alexander the Great, showing Heracles and an enthroned Zeus.
Ancient
First Spouse Gold Coin (Alice Paul)
A 2012 half-ounce 24-karat gold coin from the U.S. Mint's First Spouse series honoring suffragist Alice Paul and the woman-suffrage movement.
Commemorative
J. Shaw & Co. Hardware Token
Copper halfpenny-sized merchant token advertising J. Shaw & Co., importers of hardware in Upper Town, issued around the 1850s.
Canadian & Provincial
Austria 25 Euro Silver-Niobium Commemorative
Bi-metallic 25 Euro of the Austrian Mint with a silver outer ring and a colored niobium core; the 2003 first issue honored the town of Hall in Tirol.
Commemorative
China 10 Yuan Temple of Heaven
A modern Chinese silver 10 Yuan commemorative bearing the Temple of Heaven's Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, dated 1996.
World
Germany 2 Euro Elbphilharmonie Commemorative
A 2017 German bi-metallic 2 euro commemorative for Hamburg, showing the Elbphilharmonie concert hall with the common European reverse.
Commemorative
Sesquicentennial of American Independence Quarter Eagle
A 1926 U.S. commemorative $2.50 gold coin marking 150 years of American independence, with Liberty holding a torch and scroll and Independence Hall on the reverse.
Classic Commemorative