Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
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
Chervonets (Soviet Gold)
A Soviet gold coin depicting a peasant sower, originally struck in 1923 to stabilize the new Soviet currency and later restruck for decades as a bullion and trade coin.
European
Ptolemy I Soter Tetradrachm
A silver tetradrachm bearing the realistic portrait of Ptolemy I Soter, founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt, whose eagle-on-thunderbolt reverse became the enduring badge of Ptolemaic coinage.
Ancient
Flowing Hair Half Dime
One of the earliest United States silver coins, the Flowing Hair Half Dime was struck only in 1794 and 1795 and is a landmark rarity for early American coinage collectors.
United States
Gold Half Sovereign
Smaller companion to the gold sovereign, struck since 1817 at half the weight and value, sharing the same monarch portraits and often the same St George reverse design.
British
Testoon
The earliest English coin to carry a realistic royal portrait, introduced under Henry VII around 1487 as the forerunner of the shilling, later continued and debased under Henry VIII.
British
Kennedy Half Dollar
A half dollar issued starting in 1964 to honor assassinated President John F. Kennedy, quickly becoming a widely saved and collected commemorative-style circulating coin.
United States
Uruguay Peso Silver 'Artigas'
A silver Uruguayan peso honoring national founding hero Jose Gervasio Artigas, struck in the early twentieth century as part of Uruguay's circulating coinage.
Latin American
Quarter Farthing
The smallest fractional denomination in British coinage, worth one-sixteenth of a penny, struck primarily for use in colonial Ceylon during Victoria's reign.
British
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
Matte Proof Lincoln Cent
A special proof finish used on Lincoln cents from 1909 to 1916, featuring a fine, sandy, non-reflective surface instead of the mirror-like brilliance of earlier proof coins.
United States
Siamese Rama V Silver Baht
Western-style silver baht introduced under King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) of Siam, replacing centuries-old bullet money with modern flat coinage.
Asian
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
Draped Bust Half Cent
An early U.S. copper coin depicting a draped bust of Liberty, struck for everyday small change in the first decade of the 19th century.
United States
Nova Eborac Copper
A 1787-dated copper bearing the Latin name for New York, struck privately after the state failed to authorize its own copper coinage contract during the chaotic Confederation-era coin shortage.
United States
Flowing Hair Dollar
The first silver dollar struck by the United States Mint, issued in 1794-1795 with a flowing-haired Liberty and small eagle reverse; the 1794 date is among the rarest and most valuable U.S. coins.
United States
Bactrian Silver Tetradrachm
Large silver coin of the Greco-Bactrian kings of Central Asia, celebrated for producing some of the finest realistic royal portraiture in all of ancient coinage.
Ancient
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
George V Ten Cents
Canada's silver ten-cent coin struck throughout the long reign of King George V, spanning the First World War era through to the mid-1930s.
Canadian
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
Virginia Halfpenny
An official royal copper coinage struck in London specifically for the Colony of Virginia, showing King George III, whose distribution was disrupted by the approaching American Revolution.
United States
South African Republic Burgers Pond
The first coin struck for an independent South African state, issued in 1874 under President Thomas Burgers of the Transvaal, famous for its 'coarse beard' and 'fine beard' portrait varieties.
Africa & Oceania
George VI Small Cent (Maple Twig)
Canada's bronze one-cent coin issued under King George VI, featuring two maple leaves on a twig, a design that helped modernize Canadian coinage in the late 1930s.
Canadian
George V Twenty-Five Cents (silver)
Canada's silver twenty-five-cent coin struck under King George V, a series notable for its famous 1921 key date and a rare 1936 emergency dot variety.
Canadian