Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Gold Britannia
The United Kingdom's premier gold bullion coin series, launched in 1987, featuring Britannia on the reverse and available in one-ounce and fractional weights.
Bullion
Massachusetts Willow Tree Shilling
The rarest of Massachusetts Bay's tree-series colonial shillings, struck in secret defiance of English law and all frozen with the date 1652 regardless of actual striking year.
United States
Swiss 5 Francs Silver
The Swiss 5 Francs was Switzerland's largest circulating silver coin for over a century, featuring the standing figure of Helvetia, and remains a favorite among collectors of European silver crowns.
European
Florentine Florin
Introduced in 1252, the gold florin of Florence became medieval Europe's leading trade coin, its lily emblem and fixed gold standard copied by dozens of other mints.
European
Chile Peso (Condor)
Chilean coinage featuring the Andean condor perched or in flight, first seen on 19th-century gold pesos and later on the everyday circulating peso coin.
Latin American
Netherlands Rijksdaalder
A historic large silver crown-sized coin of the Low Countries, the rijksdaalder became a trusted trade coin across Europe for centuries and lent its name to the modern Dutch 2½-guilder piece.
European
Islamic Silver Dirham (Abbasid)
The standard silver coin of the Abbasid Caliphate, continuing the text-only Kufic script tradition and widely used across a vast medieval trade network stretching from Europe to Central Asia.
Ancient
Austrian Gold Ducat
A traditional high-purity Austrian gold trade coin with centuries of history, still struck today by the Austrian Mint as an official restrike permanently dated 1915.
European
Chilean 20 Pesos Gold
The smallest of Chile's regular gold coin denominations, issued both in an earlier 19th-century gold peso series and later as part of the 1926 condor-themed gold reform.
Latin American
Swiss Franc (Helvetia Seated)
Switzerland's classic 19th-century silver coinage depicting a seated figure of Helvetia, the female personification of the Swiss nation.
European
Ottoman Para
A small fractional Ottoman coin, historically 1/40 of a kurus, struck for centuries in varying metals as the empire's lowest everyday denomination.
World
Australian Holey Dollar and Dump
In 1813, colonial authorities in New South Wales punched the centers out of Spanish silver dollars to create two coins from one, easing a severe coin shortage while preventing the silver from leaving the colony.
Africa & Oceania
Japanese Kan'ei Tsuho Cash
The workhorse cash coin of Edo-period Japan, cast continuously from 1636 for over two centuries with a square hole and simple four-character legend.
Asian
Dutch Silver Ducat
A historic Dutch trade silver coin first struck in 1659, depicting a standing knight, that has been minted continuously for centuries and remains a popular silver bullion and collector piece today.
European
Augustus Denarius
The main silver coin of Rome's first emperor, Augustus, whose long reign established the imperial monetary system that would last for centuries.
Ancient
Chinese Ban Liang Cash
China's first standardized round coin with a square center hole, introduced under Qin Shi Huang to unify currency across the newly consolidated Chinese empire.
Ancient
Australian Platinum Koala
Australia's platinum bullion coin from the Perth Mint, first struck in 1988 with a koala design that changes nearly every year.
Bullion
Chinese Platinum Panda
China's platinum bullion coin series, sister to the famous Gold Panda, featuring a new panda design nearly every year since its 1987 debut.
Bullion
Rose Noble (Ryal)
A large English gold coin first struck under Edward IV in 1465, showing the king standing in a ship, and later revived in the Tudor era as a heavier, higher-value gold piece.
British
Gold Noble
England's first successful gold coin for general circulation, introduced in 1344 under Edward III, famous for its ship reverse commemorating English naval power.
British
Capped Bust Right Half Eagle
America's first five-dollar gold coin, struck 1795-1807 with Liberty facing right under a soft cap, first paired with a small perched eagle reverse and later a bold heraldic eagle.
United States
Australian Gold Kangaroo
Australia's flagship gold bullion coin, first struck as the Gold Nugget before adopting a yearly-changing kangaroo design in 1989.
Bullion
Turban Head Eagle
The first U.S. $10 gold coin, struck 1795-1804 and nicknamed 'Turban Head' for Liberty's cap-like headdress; the earliest examples pair her portrait with a small, spread-winged eagle.
United States
Threepence
A small British coin worth three pence, issued first as a tiny silver piece and later as the distinctive 12-sided brass 'threepenny bit' beloved for its unusual shape.
British