Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Seated Liberty Half Dollar
A 90% silver half dollar (1839-1891) featuring Liberty seated on a rock holding a shield and pole, designed by Christian Gobrecht.
United States
Grant Memorial Half Dollar
A 1922 U.S. commemorative half dollar honoring the 100th anniversary of Ulysses S. Grant's birth, famous for a rare 'star' variety.
Commemorative
Continental Dollar
A large 1776-dated piece bearing a sundial, 'MIND YOUR BUSINESS,' and a thirteen-link chain, long debated as either an intended Continental Congress dollar or a contemporary satirical piece.
United States
Barber Half Dollar
A 90% silver half dollar (1892-1915) with a right-facing Liberty head designed by Charles E. Barber, part of a matching Barber dime, quarter, and half dollar series.
United States
Ryal
A large Scottish silver coin issued under Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, nicknamed the 'sword dollar' for the crowned sword on its reverse.
British
Flowing Hair Half Dollar
The first U.S. half dollar, struck only in 1794 and 1795, showing Liberty with flowing hair and a small, spread-winged eagle on the reverse.
United States
Indian Head Quarter Eagle ($2.50)
A small gold coin featuring Bela Lyon Pratt's distinctive incuse Native American design, one of only two U.S. denominations ever struck with recessed devices.
United States
Chinese Dragon Dollar
A coiled dragon dominates the reverse of these late Qing Dynasty silver dollars, struck by numerous Chinese provincial mints as China modernized its coinage using Western minting technology.
Asian
Kwangtung Province Dragon Dollar
One of the earliest Chinese machine-struck silver dollars, issued by Kwangtung Province and featuring a coiled dragon reverse that became the template for Chinese provincial dollar coinage.
Asian
Franklin Half Dollar
A 90% silver half dollar (1948-1963) depicting Benjamin Franklin on the obverse and the Liberty Bell on the reverse, designed by John R. Sinnock.
United States
Sun Yat-sen Junk Dollar
A Republic of China silver dollar depicting Sun Yat-sen and a traditional sailing junk, with the scarcer 1934 variety showing three birds overhead that is highly sought by collectors.
Asian
Victoria Fifty Cents (half dollar)
Canada's silver fifty-cent piece struck under Queen Victoria from 1870 to 1901, featuring her portrait and a heraldic shield-and-wreath reverse.
Canadian
Voyageur Silver Dollar
Canada's iconic silver dollar, first struck in 1935 to mark George V's Silver Jubilee, showing a voyageur and Indigenous guide paddling a canoe.
Canadian
Draped Bust Half Dollar
A silver half dollar (1796-1807) showing a draped, classically styled Liberty bust, issued with a small eagle reverse (1796-1797) and later a heraldic eagle reverse (1801-1807).
United States
Missouri Centennial Half Dollar
A 1921 U.S. commemorative half dollar marking Missouri's centennial of statehood, known for a scarcer '2★4' variety.
Commemorative
Hawaiian Sesquicentennial Half Dollar
A rare, low-mintage 1928 commemorative half dollar marking 150 years since Captain James Cook's arrival in Hawaii, considered a key rarity of the classic commemorative series.
Commemorative
Colombian Peso Silver
Colombia's traditional silver dollar-sized coin, struck across different eras of the country's political evolution, from Nueva Granada through the modern Republic of Colombia.
Latin American
Chinese Ming Dynasty Cash (Hong Wu Tong Bao)
The founding cash coin of the Ming Dynasty, issued under the Hongwu Emperor, marking the restoration of native Han Chinese rule after the collapse of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty.
Asian
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
Stone Mountain Memorial Half Dollar
A 1925 commemorative half dollar depicting Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson on horseback, issued to fund the massive Stone Mountain carving in Georgia.
Commemorative
Indian Head Cent
A long-running 19th-century one-cent coin depicting Liberty in a Native American-style feathered headdress, popular with collectors for its accessible half-century run.
United States
Indian Head Gold Quarter Eagle ($2.50)
A small early 20th-century $2.50 gold coin notable for its incuse design and Native American war bonnet portrait, designed by sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt.
United States
Maria Theresa Thaler
An Austrian silver trade coin dated 1780 that has been restruck continuously for over two centuries, remaining a trusted currency across parts of Africa and the Middle East long after its original issue.
European
Maine Centennial Half Dollar
A 1920 U.S. commemorative half dollar issued for the 100th anniversary of Maine's statehood, featuring the state's coat of arms.
Commemorative