Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Flowing Hair Large Cent
An early U.S. copper cent showing Liberty with flowing hair and a liberty cap, ONE CENT in a wreath on the reverse; the photographed piece is dated 1794.
Large Cent
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
Trinidad and Tobago 50 Cents
A large copper-nickel Caribbean circulation coin; the 1967 example carries the national coat of arms and country name on the obverse and the 50-cent value on the reverse.
Circulation
Spanish Colonial 4 Reales
A large silver colonial coin worth half a Spanish dollar, struck for Spain's American empire and bearing the crowned Spanish royal arms.
Colonial
Australian Fifty Cents
Australia's 50 cent coin bearing the national coat of arms. The 1966 round issue shown here was struck in silver; later 12-sided coins are cupronickel.
Australian
India 50 Paise
A George VI half-rupee of British India dated 1946 — the pale nickel-brass ancestor of the modern 50 paise, with a crowned royal bust and a rampant lion reverse.
Modern India
Cape Verde 100 Escudos
A bi-metallic Cape Verde 100 escudos with a botanical theme, its silver-colored center showing the endemic Aeonium gorgoneum plant.
World
Guangxu Yuanbao 50 Cents
A Qing-dynasty silver half-dollar bearing the legend Guangxu Yuanbao and a coiled dragon, struck by Chinese provincial mints during the Guangxu Emperor's reign.
Circulation
Halfcrown of William III
A silver two-shilling-and-sixpence coin of William III showing his laureate profile facing right and crowned cruciform shields of arms, dated 1696.
Milled
Aureus of A. Manlius Vulso
A rare late-Republican Roman gold aureus of the moneyer A. Manlius Vulso, c. 80 BC, showing a capped head and a horseman carrying a military ensign.
Ancient
Halfpenny of Henry VIII
A tiny hand-struck Tudor silver halfpenny of Henry VIII, showing a crowned facing bust on the obverse and a long cross over a shield of arms on the reverse.
Hammered
Halve Duit (VOC)
Small copper half-duit of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), bearing the crowned VOC monogram, struck in the 1700s for use in the Dutch trading world.
Early Modern
Ban Liang
A round bronze cash coin with a square central hole and two seal-script characters reading Ban Liang, from early imperial China.
Ancient
Cape Verde 5 Escudos
A small brass-toned Cape Verde circulation coin whose botanical face depicts the endemic Campanula jacobaea flower with legends around the rim.
World
Guangxu Yuanbao 7 Mace 2 Candareens
A silver Chinese dragon dollar of the Guangxu era, marked Guangxu Yuanbao and valued at 7 Mace 2 Candareens, with a coiled dragon on one face and Chinese legends on the other.
Circulation
James VI Ryal
A large hammered silver Scottish ryal of James VI, showing a crowned lion-rampant shield and a mailed swordhand grasping an upright sword, dated 1569.
Hammered
Australian Halfpenny
Small bronze pre-decimal Australian half penny; the George VI kangaroo type shown here was struck through the early 1950s.
Australian
Maria Theresa Thaler
A large silver Austrian trade coin bearing the bust of Empress Maria Theresa, famously frozen at the date 1780 and restruck for centuries.
World
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
500 Reis
A Portuguese silver 500 Reis of Queen Maria II, with her left-facing draped bust on the obverse and a crowned coat of arms on the reverse.
Modern
Xuantong Yuanbao 7 Mace 2 Candareens
A late Qing silver dollar-size coin of the Xuantong era (1909-1911), reading 宣統元寶 on the obverse with a Chinese dragon on the reverse.
Circulation
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
Roman Victoriatus
Silver Roman Republican victoriatus of the late 3rd–2nd century BC, with the laureate head of Jupiter and a Victory crowning a trophy above ROMA.
Ancient
Flowing Hair Stella
An 1879 U.S. $4 gold pattern coin with a flowing-hair Liberty obverse and a large-star "ONE STELLA" reverse; famous rarity, never circulated.
Stella