Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
50 Sen (Dragon Type)
A Meiji-era Japanese silver 50 sen: a coiled dragon on one face, a sunburst-and-wreath value design on the other, dated Meiji 4 (1871).
Circulation
Swiss Shooting Thaler
A silver Swiss 5-franc shooting thaler dated 1934, struck for a federal shooting festival, with a standing female Helvetia figure and a heraldic shield.
Commemorative
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
500 Yen Bicolor Clad
Japan's large two-tone 500 yen circulation coin, with a floral blossom design and pearl-like beading on one face and bold value numerals on the other.
Circulation
Charles II Five Guineas
The largest English gold coin of Charles II's reign, showing his laureate profile and a cruciform arrangement of crowned shields on the reverse.
Milled
Five Guineas of Anne
Queen Anne's largest gold coin, the celebrated 1703 issue struck with VIGO below the bust from gold captured at the Battle of Vigo Bay.
Milled
Turban Head Half Eagle
First U.S. gold $5 coin, 1795: Liberty in a soft cap facing right, with a heraldic shield-breasted eagle reverse struck in 22-karat gold.
Half Eagle
50 Centimes Semeuse
A small silver French 50 centimes with Roty's striding Semeuse (sower) on the obverse and the value within the national motto on the reverse.
Circulation
Medal of Honor Commemorative Half Eagle
US 2011 gold $5 commemorative honoring the Medal of Honor, showing the Army version of the medal above a Corinthian column.
Commemoratives
Bonn Notgeld 50 Pfennig
A German emergency-money (Notgeld) 50 Pfennig of the city of Bonn, dated 1920, with the civic arms on the obverse and a Beethoven profile on the reverse.
Token/notgeld
Venezuelan Silver Coin (1879)
An 1879 Venezuelan silver coin: the left-facing head of Simón Bolívar on one side and the national coat of arms in a wreath on the other.
Circulation
Tanzania 500 Shillings
A modern base-metal circulating coin of Tanzania carrying a right-facing portrait long associated with the nation's founding president and a Kiswahili legend.
World
Roosevelt Dime
The circulating U.S. ten-cent coin honoring Franklin D. Roosevelt, shown here as a 1965 copper-nickel clad issue with a torch, olive, and oak reverse.
Dime
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
1 Escudo
Portugal's first silver escudo, struck in 1910 to mark the founding of the Republic, with an allegorical female head and the crowned national shield.
Modern
Philippines 50 Centavos
A 1960s Philippine 50-centavos coin in copper-nickel, its obverse showing an allegorical woman with a torch and its reverse the national coat of arms.
Southeast Asia
Erstein Notgeld 50 Pfennigs
A 1917 German emergency-money token for 50 Pfennigs from Erstein in Alsace, with the town coat of arms on the obverse and a large 50 on the reverse.
Token/notgeld
Rijksdaalder van Leicester
A large silver Dutch rijksdaalder of the Leicester type, with a helmeted armored bust and ruff on the obverse and a compartmented heraldic shield on the reverse.
Early Modern
Halve Rijksdaalder van Leicester
Silver half rijksdaalder of the Leicester type, struck in the rebelling Dutch provinces, showing an armored bust and a split provincial shield.
Early Modern
Duit (VOC)
A small copper duit struck for the Dutch East India Company (VOC), showing the crowned VOC monogram and the date 1790 on the obverse.
Early Modern
Bourgondische Rijksdaalder
A large silver rijksdaalder of the Habsburg Netherlands showing Philip II in helmeted armor, with a compartmented heraldic shield and the Golden Fleece collar.
Early Modern
Seated Liberty Dime
A U.S. silver ten-cent coin showing Liberty seated with a pole and shield; the early No Stars type has a plain obverse and a laurel-wreath ONE DIME reverse.
Dime
Bhutan 500 Ngultrum Commemorative
Modern Bhutanese silver commemorative dated 2008, with a portrait of King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and an ornate dragon-and-mythical-creature reverse.
Himalayan
Clark & Co Territorial Gold Half Eagle
An 1860 privately struck $5 gold piece from Clark, Gruber & Co. of Denver, coined from Pikes Peak gold during the Colorado gold rush.
Half Eagle