Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
500 Yen Niigata Prefecture Commemorative
A modern Japanese 500 Yen commemorative for Niigata Prefecture, showing a traditional ship that celebrates the region's maritime and port heritage.
Commemorative
Roman Denarius
A small hammered silver coin of ancient Rome, showing an emperor's portrait and abbreviated Latin titles on one side and a deity or figure on the other.
Ancient
Eighth Thistle Merk
A small hammered silver Scottish coin of James VI, showing a crowned heraldic shield of arms on one side and a crowned thistle on the other.
Hammered
Guangdong 20 Cents
A silver 20-cent coin of Kwangtung (Guangdong) province, struck under the Guangxu Emperor with a coiled dragon on one side and Chinese legends on the other.
Circulation
Shansi Arsenal 1 Fen
A holed copper 1 Fen struck by the Shansi Arsenal in 1928, with Chinese inscriptions and numeral '1' around a central square hole.
Circulation
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
Barbados 10 Cents
A small copper-nickel Barbadian 10-cent coin showing the national coat of arms on one side and the value and country name on the other.
Circulation
Tunisia 100 Millimes
A brass Tunisian coin worth 100 millimes, with flowing Arabic calligraphy inside an ornate border on one side and a large 100 on the other.
World
Spanish Colonial 1 Real (Bourbon)
A small silver coin of Spain's American colonies from the early Bourbon era, showing a cross with ornaments on one side and the crowned royal arms on the other.
Colonial
Erstein Notgeld 10 Pfennigs
A 1917 German emergency coin (Notgeld) for 10 Pfennigs from the town of Erstein, with the city coat of arms on one side and a large 10 on the other.
Token/notgeld
Anglo-Saxon Styca
A tiny base-metal coin of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, struck in the 8th-9th century with a head and inscription on one side and a cross on the other.
Medieval Coins
Medieval Penny
England's standard medieval coin: a small hammered silver penny with a crowned royal head on one side and a cross on the other, struck by hand across many reigns.
Medieval Coins
20 Para
A small base-metal coin of socialist Yugoslavia, showing the value 20 with the date 1974 on one side and the six-flame Yugoslav state emblem on the other.
Modern
Travancore One Cash
A tiny copper coin of the princely state of Travancore, carrying the state's conch-shell emblem on one side and its cash value in local script on the other.
Princely & Presidency States
Chilean Peso (1875 Type)
A silver one-peso coin of Chile: the national coat of arms with its lone star and laurel wreaths on one side, and a large bird in flight on the other.
Circulation
Vietnam 2 Tien - Bao Dai
A gold 2 Tien of Vietnam's last emperor, Bao Dai (1926-1945), its face bearing a radiant sun motif and Chinese-Vietnamese court inscriptions.
Southeast Asia
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
5 Bolivares
A crown-sized silver 5 bolivares of Venezuela: the head of Bolivar the Liberator on one side and the national coat of arms on the other.
Circulation
Corinthian Stater
Silver stater of ancient Corinth showing the winged horse Pegasos on one side and the helmeted head of Athena on the other.
Ancient Coins
Cnidian Drachm
An archaic hand-struck silver drachm of the Greek city of Cnidus, showing the goddess Aphrodite on one side and an eagle on the other.
Ancient
Grosz Koronny
A silver Crown grosz of the Kingdom of Poland, dated 1527, with a royal crown above a shield on one side and the Polish Eagle on the other.
Early Modern
Venetian Ducat
A medieval gold ducat of the Republic of Venice, showing Saint Mark presenting a banner to the kneeling Doge on one side and Christ on the other.
Medieval
Roman As
A base-metal As of ancient Rome, showing the double-faced head of Janus on one side and a chariot with ROMA on the other.
Ancient
1 Pengő
Wartime Hungarian one pengő struck in lightweight aluminum, with an ornamental laurel-wreath design on one side and the value with the 1944 date on the other.
Modern