Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Belgian Congo 5 Francs (Copper)
A copper 5 Francs piece dated 1887 with a radiant star obverse and a crowned heraldic reverse reading CONGO BELGE, widely regarded as a fantasy or novelty type.
World
Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Silver Dollar
A 1992 U.S. 90% silver commemorative dollar marking 500 years since Columbus's 1492 voyage, with a standing Columbus obverse and a sailing-ship reverse.
Modern Commemorative
Maundy Money Twopence
A tiny sterling-silver British twopence with a crowned Roman numeral II reverse; this example bears the profile of King James II, dated 1687.
Maundy
Bank of England Dollar
A George III silver dollar issued by the Bank of England in 1804, struck over Spanish eight-reales coins, with a laureate bust and a crowned shield reverse.
Milled
½ Skilling
A small copper Danish half skilling of 1771, showing a royal crown over the king's cipher and the value ½ SKILLING DANMARK K:M on the reverse.
Early Modern
French Semeuse 5 Francs
A silver French 5-franc coin of the Fifth Republic showing the Sower (Semeuse) striding left, with a flowered wreath around the value on the reverse.
Circulation
Gobrecht Dollar
U.S. silver dollar of 1836 by engraver Christian Gobrecht, pairing a Seated Liberty obverse with a flying-eagle reverse; a rare pattern-era issue.
Dollar
Eisenhower Centennial Dollar
A 1990 U.S. commemorative silver dollar marking 100 years since Dwight D. Eisenhower's birth, with his left-facing profile and his Gettysburg home on the reverse.
Dollar
Ceylon 5 Rupees Buddhism Anniversary
Ceylon's 1957 silver five rupees marking 2,500 years of Buddhism, with an ornate 2500 device amid mythological creatures and a scrolled RUPEES reverse.
South Asia
Cincinnati Music Center Half Dollar
A 1936 U.S. silver half dollar honoring Cincinnati as a music center, with composer Stephen Foster on the obverse and an allegorical figure with a lyre on the reverse.
Classic Commemorative
Kennedy Half Dollar Bicentennial
U.S. fifty-cent piece issued for the 1976 Bicentennial, pairing the Kennedy portrait with a Liberty Bell reverse and the dual date 1776-1976.
Half Dollar
Australian Crown
Australia's only crown (five-shilling) coin, a large sterling-silver piece struck in 1937 and 1938 with a George VI portrait and a crown reverse.
Australian
Elgin Illinois Centennial Half Dollar
A 1936 U.S. silver half dollar marking the centennial of Elgin, Illinois, with a bearded pioneer head and a pioneer-family memorial group on the reverse.
Classic Commemorative
Norfolk Bicentennial Half Dollar
A 1936 U.S. silver half dollar honoring Norfolk, Virginia, with the city's Royal Mace on the reverse and dates 1636-1936; a low-mintage classic commemorative.
Classic Commemorative
Lower Canada Bank Penny Token
Copper 1837 penny token of Lower Canada with a standing habitant and PROVINCE DU BAS CANADA obverse and a crowned heraldic-arms reverse.
Canadian & Provincial
Capped Bust Quarter Eagle
A one-year U.S. gold $2.50 piece struck only in 1808, with John Reich's capped Liberty obverse and a heraldic eagle reverse. A classic rarity.
Quarter Eagle
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
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
Constitutional Ecu
A French silver ecu of the constitutional-monarchy era showing King Louis XVI on the obverse and a standing armed Liberty figure on the reverse, dated 1792.
Revolutionary
Philippines 20 Centavos
A small wartime silver 20 centavos of the Commonwealth-era Philippines: a standing Liberty figure and Mayon volcano, with an eagle over a shield on the reverse.
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
King's Silver Jubilee Medal
British 1935 commemorative medal with overlaid profiles of King George V and Queen Mary and a castle reverse marking the Silver Jubilee.
Medals & Tokens
Connecticut Tercentennial Half Dollar
A 1935 U.S. silver half dollar marking 300 years of Connecticut, with a standing eagle on the obverse and the storied Charter Oak on the reverse.
Classic Commemorative
3 Roubles (First All-Russian Coins)
Soviet 1982 commemorative 3 Roubles honoring the first all-Russian coins, showing three historical 18th-century Russian coins with the state emblem reverse.
Commemorative