Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
India 1 Rupee Commemorative
Copper-nickel Republic of India one rupee showing the Ashoka Lion Capital emblem, with the value and Devanagari legends on the reverse, from the late 20th century.
Modern India
Lebanese 1 Piastre
A small holed bronze 1 Piastre of Greater Lebanon dated 1925, struck under the French Mandate, with bilingual legends and an ornamental wreath framing the value.
World
Grant Memorial Gold Dollar
A tiny 1922 U.S. gold dollar honoring Ulysses S. Grant's birth centennial, issued in 'star' and 'no star' varieties from the Philadelphia Mint.
Classic Commemorative
1 Pengő
Wartime Hungarian one pengő struck in lightweight aluminum, with an ornamental laurel-wreath design on one side and the value with the 1944 date on the other.
Modern
Straits Settlements Dollar
A 1904 silver dollar of the British Straits Settlements, one face showing an emblem and ONE DOLLAR, the other a right-facing portrait of King Edward VII.
Southeast Asia
Belgian Congo 1 Franc
An early silver franc struck for the Congo under King Leopold II, pairing a laureate portrait with grain stalks and the value.
World
Congo 5 Francs
A modern circulation coin of the Democratic Republic of Congo, showing the central bank name and the value 5 Francs with decorative devices.
World
British Silver Threepence
Tiny sterling-silver threepence of Queen Victoria; the young-head type shown here dates to 1858 and is one of Britain's smallest circulating coins.
British Isles
1 Skilling
A copper 1 skilling of Denmark dated 1771, with a royal crown over ornament on one side and an inscribed value design on the other.
Early Modern
Macao 20 Patacas
A silver 20 patacas of Portuguese-administered Macau: the Portuguese coat of arms on one face and a harbor scene with a Chinese junk on the other.
Circulation
French West Africa 1 Franc
A lightweight aluminum 1 Franc dated 1948 for French West Africa, with an allegorical female head on the obverse and the value framed by AFRIQUE-OCCIDENTALE FRANCAISE on the reverse.
World
Una and the Lion Five Pounds
William Wyon's 1839 gold Five Pounds pairs a young Queen Victoria with Una guiding a lion — widely praised as one of the most beautiful British coins ever struck.
British Isles
Qianlong Tongbao (An Nam)
A bronze round cash coin with a square center hole bearing the four characters Qianlong Tongbao, cast in An Nam (Vietnam) in the imitative Chinese style.
Cash Coin
Israel 1 Agora (Bank of Israel 25th Anniversary)
A small 1980 aluminum-bronze 1 Agora of Israel, tied to the Bank of Israel's 25th anniversary, with grain ears on one face and the value 1 with Hebrew legend on the other.
World
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
Massachusetts Shilling (1 Shilling 6 Pence)
A colonial-era Massachusetts silver piece valued at one shilling and sixpence, joining a pine-tree obverse with a rising-sun reverse and the date 1779.
Colonial
Najd Silver Coin
Silver trade coin catalogued to Najd, central Arabia, bearing a left-facing Victoria Queen bust and an 1862 date in the British India rupee style.
Arabia
Restoration Anniversary Peso
A silver Dominican one-peso commemorative dated 1963, marking the centennial of the Restoration, with a Liberty head obverse and the national arms.
Commemorative
Congolese Commemorative Coin
An 1889 holed copper 10-centime coin of the Congo Free State, with a radiant five-pointed star, the value 10 C, and a ring of small stars.
World
Eighth Thistle Merk
A small hammered silver Scottish coin of James VI, showing a crowned heraldic shield of arms on one side and a crowned thistle on the other.
Hammered
South Africa 5 Shillings
A large 1952 South African silver crown marking Cape Town's 300th anniversary, with King George VI and a sailing-ship reverse.
Circulation
2 Litai
A white base-metal 2 litai of newly independent Lithuania, dated 1991, showing the value in a radiating sunburst on one side and the Vytis mounted knight on the other.
Modern
Quarter Farthing
Tiny copper coin of Queen Victoria worth one-sixteenth of a penny, struck for use in Ceylon; the smallest-value British denomination ever made.
British Isles
500 Yen Japanese Immigration Commemorative
A 2008 Japanese 500 yen commemorative marking 100 years of Japanese immigration to Brazil, with two figures on one side and a ship on the other.
Commemorative