Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Shield Nickel
The first copper-nickel five-cent coin, the Shield Nickel features a national shield on the obverse and was issued from 1866 to 1883, including rare rays and proof-only dates.
United States
Australian Florin (pre-decimal)
Pre-decimal Australian silver florin worth two shillings, minted from 1910 until decimalization replaced it with the 20-cent coin in 1966.
Africa & Oceania
1846 Seated Liberty Dime
A famously low-mintage Seated Liberty dime, considered one of the key dates of the entire series and scarce in any collectible grade.
United States
1802 Draped Bust Half Dime
One of the great rarities of early U.S. coinage, with an extremely small original mintage and only a handful of genuine survivors known today.
United States
1932-S Washington Quarter
One of the two key dates of the Washington quarter series, struck at San Francisco in the design's debut year with a very limited mintage.
United States
1949 King George VI Silver Dollar
A one-year Canadian silver dollar issued to mark Newfoundland's entry into Confederation, depicting John Cabot's ship the Matthew on the reverse.
Canadian
Lydian Croeseid (Croesus Stater)
One of history's earliest bimetallic coinages, struck under the legendary King Croesus of Lydia, featuring the confronting foreparts of a lion and a bull.
Ancient
1943 'V' Victory Nickel (tombac)
A wartime Canadian five-cent coin struck in golden tombac with a bold V for Victory and a Morse code message around its edge, issued when nickel metal was diverted to the war effort.
Canadian
Buffalo Nickel
Beloved American five-cent coin featuring a Native American portrait and an American bison, designed by James Earle Fraser and celebrated for its distinctly American imagery.
United States
German Saxony Ducat
A high-purity gold trade coin struck for centuries by the rulers of Saxony, one of the most important German states before national unification.
European
German Bavaria Thaler
A large silver crown-sized coin issued by the Bavarian state, one of many German territorial thalers struck before German unification.
European
Syracuse Dekadrachm (Kimon)
A magnificent silver dekadrachm from ancient Syracuse signed by the master engraver Kimon, prized as one of the finest achievements of Greek coin art.
Ancient
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
Lysimachos Tetradrachm (Alexander/Athena)
A silver tetradrachm struck by King Lysimachos, one of Alexander the Great's successors, showing the deified Alexander with a ram's horn and a seated Athena on the reverse.
Ancient
Britannia (Silver Bullion)
The Royal Mint's modern one-ounce silver bullion coin, featuring the classical figure of Britannia, popular with investors and design collectors worldwide.
Bullion
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
Three-Dollar Gold Piece
An unusual and short-lived gold denomination created partly to simplify buying sheets of three-cent postage stamps, now a favorite oddity among gold coin collectors.
United States
1795 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar
One of the earliest United States silver dollars, sharing the Flowing Hair design introduced in 1794 and struck in two collectible leaf-count varieties.
United States
1804 Draped Bust Dollar
One of the most famous rarities in American numismatics, a silver dollar dated 1804 but actually struck decades later, with only 15 known examples.
United States
Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle
Widely regarded as one of the most beautiful U.S. coins ever produced, designed by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens at the urging of President Theodore Roosevelt.
United States
Athenian Owl Tetradrachm
Classical Athenian silver coin depicting Athena and her sacred owl, one of the most recognizable and widely circulated coinages of the ancient Mediterranean world.
Ancient
Larissa Nymph Facing Drachm
A celebrated Thessalian silver drachm showing the facing head of the nymph Larissa, considered one of the finest facing-portrait achievements in Greek coin art.
Ancient
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
British Silver Britannia
The Royal Mint's one-ounce silver bullion coin, launched in 1997 as a silver companion to the Gold Britannia, featuring the same classical Britannia design.
Bullion