Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Classic Head Half Eagle ($5)
A short-lived early American gold five-dollar coin created after the Coinage Act of 1834 reduced gold coin weight to keep coins in circulation rather than being melted.
United States
Mexican Libertad
Mexico's flagship bullion coin, featuring the Angel of Independence on the obverse and the national coat of arms on the reverse, prized for its classic design and high purity.
Bullion
Quarter Guinea
A rarely issued small gold coin worth one-quarter of a guinea, struck only in 1718 under George I and again briefly in 1762 under George III.
British
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
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
Liberty Head Eagle ($10)
A long-running 19th-century gold coin featuring Christian Gobrecht's Coronet Head design, minted at numerous branch mints across the expanding United States.
United States
Japanese Koban
A hand-hammered oval gold coin used in feudal Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate, valued at one ryo and stamped with ink calligraphy certifying its weight and fineness.
Asian
Brasher Doubloon
A famous privately struck gold coin made in 1787 by New York goldsmith Ephraim Brasher, a neighbor of George Washington, and one of the most valuable and celebrated coins in American numismatics.
United States
Sacagawea Golden Dollar
A golden-colored dollar coin introduced in 2000 depicting Sacagawea carrying her infant son, created to replace the unpopular Susan B. Anthony dollar in everyday commerce.
United States
Byzantine Solidus
The gold standard coin of the Byzantine Empire for over 700 years, the solidus funded an empire, financed trade across three continents, and remained one of history's most stable currencies.
Ancient
Liberty Head Quarter Eagle ($2.50)
A small 19th-century gold coin featuring Christian Gobrecht's Coronet Head design, minted across many branch facilities during America's gold rush era.
United States
German Hamburg Ducat
A small, exceptionally high-purity gold trade coin struck for centuries by the free city of Hamburg, prized for its consistent fineness and long production history.
European
Liberty Head Half Eagle ($5)
A widely produced 19th-century gold five-dollar coin bearing Christian Gobrecht's Coronet Head design, struck across nearly every major American branch mint of the era.
United States
1787 Brasher Doubloon
An extraordinarily rare private gold coin struck by New York goldsmith Ephraim Brasher in 1787, now one of the most valuable and famous coins in American numismatics.
United States
South African ZAR Kruger Pond
Gold pound-equivalent coin of the old South African Republic (Transvaal) under President Paul Kruger, notable for its wagon reverse and the rare 'single shaft' variety.
Africa & Oceania
Touchstone Sovereign (Fine Sovereign)
A large, high-value English gold coin struck in especially pure 'fine gold,' valued at thirty shillings and distinguished from the more common crown-gold Sovereign of the same era.
British
1933 Double Eagle
One of the rarest and most legally contested U.S. coins, struck but never officially released for circulation after the nation left the gold standard; a single example sold for over $18 million.
United States
French Louis d'Or
The Louis d'Or was the principal gold coin of the French monarchy for over 150 years, named after the kings Louis who issued it, and struck until the eve of the Revolution.
European
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
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
Panama-Pacific Quarter Eagle Commemorative
A 1915 commemorative gold coin honoring the Panama-Pacific Exposition, showing Liberty riding a hippocampus (sea horse), symbolizing the Panama Canal's linking of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Commemorative
English Angel
A gold coin depicting the Archangel Michael slaying a dragon, issued for nearly two centuries and later famous for its use as a royal 'touch-piece' for the healing ceremony of the King's Evil.
British
Vienna Philharmonic
Austria's celebrated bullion coin family built around a shared musical design honoring the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, issued in gold, silver, and platinum.
Bullion
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