Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
1796 Draped Bust Dime
The very first dime struck by the United States Mint, featuring the Draped Bust design with a small eagle reverse and no stated denomination.
United States
Buffalo Nickel
Beloved American five-cent coin featuring a Native American portrait and an American bison, designed by James Earle Fraser and celebrated for its distinctly American imagery.
United States
Three-Dollar Gold Piece
An unusual and short-lived gold denomination created partly to simplify buying sheets of three-cent postage stamps, now a favorite oddity among gold coin collectors.
United States
Naxos Silenus Tetradrachm (Sicily)
A silver tetradrachm from the Sicilian Greek colony of Naxos, celebrated for its masterful head of Dionysos and a vividly rendered seated Silenus on the reverse.
Ancient
Herakleia Herakles Nomos
A South Italian silver nomos from Herakleia showing Athena on the obverse and the city's namesake hero Herakles wrestling the Nemean lion on the reverse.
Ancient
Abdera Griffin Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm of the Thracian city of Abdera, featuring the mythical griffin inherited from its mother-city Teos, with magistrates' names on the reverse.
Ancient
Lysimachos Tetradrachm (Alexander/Athena)
A silver tetradrachm struck by King Lysimachos, one of Alexander the Great's successors, showing the deified Alexander with a ram's horn and a seated Athena on the reverse.
Ancient
Corinthian Pegasus Stater
A widely circulated ancient Greek silver coin from Corinth, featuring the winged horse Pegasus on the obverse and a helmeted head of Athena on the reverse.
Ancient
French 20 Franc Rooster
A French Third Republic gold coin replacing royal and imperial portraits with republican symbolism: Marianne on the obverse and a standing Gallic rooster on the reverse.
European
Julian II Bull Bronze
A large bronze maiorina of Julian the Apostate with a bull reverse, associated with his brief attempt to revive traditional pagan worship in Rome.
Ancient
Korean Sangpyeong Tongbo Cash
The standard cash coin of Joseon-dynasty Korea, cast for over two centuries with a huge range of mint and workshop marks on the reverse.
Asian
1976 Bicentennial Eisenhower Dollar
A dual-dated 1776-1976 Eisenhower dollar with a special reverse showing the Liberty Bell superimposed on the moon, issued for the U.S. Bicentennial.
United States
Canadian Loonie
Canada's eleven-sided one dollar coin, introduced in 1987 with a common loon on the reverse, giving rise to its popular nickname.
Canadian
Gela Man-Headed Bull Tetradrachm
Silver tetradrachm of the Sicilian city of Gela, featuring a racing quadriga on the obverse and the man-headed bull river god Gelas on the reverse.
Ancient
South African Union Silver Crown (5 Shillings)
Large silver crown of the Union of South Africa, struck periodically from the late 1940s, featuring a springbok reverse and occasional special commemorative designs.
Africa & Oceania
California Diamond Jubilee Half Dollar
A 1925 commemorative half dollar marking California's 75th anniversary of statehood, featuring a kneeling gold prospector obverse and a walking grizzly bear reverse.
Commemorative
Terina Nike Nomos
A silver nomos from the South Italian city of Terina, celebrated among collectors for its graceful depictions of Nike, the winged goddess of victory, on the reverse.
Ancient
Thurium (Thurii) Athena and Bull Nomos
Silver nomos of the Greek colony of Thurii in southern Italy, showing a helmeted Athena obverse and a butting bull reverse, a classic Magna Graecia type.
Ancient
Kushan Gold Dinar of Kanishka
A gold dinar of the great Kushan emperor Kanishka I, famous for its rich mix of Greek, Iranian, Indian, and Buddhist deities depicted on the reverse.
Ancient
1804 Draped Bust Dime
A scarce early dime featuring the Draped Bust obverse and Heraldic Eagle reverse, struck in very limited numbers and prized as a key date of the series.
United States
1794 Flowing Hair Half Dime
One of the very first silver coins struck for circulation by the United States Mint, bearing the Flowing Hair Liberty design and a small eagle reverse.
United States
1867 Shield Nickel No Rays
The revised Shield Nickel design with the rays removed from between the reverse stars, introduced to solve die-breakage problems experienced with the original 1866 design.
United States
1958 British Columbia Totem Pole Dollar
A commemorative Canadian silver dollar marking the centennial of the founding of the Colony of British Columbia in 1858, its reverse featuring a totem pole design.
Canadian
1939 Royal Visit Silver Dollar (Parliament)
A commemorative Canadian silver dollar marking the 1939 royal tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, with the Parliament Buildings depicted on the reverse.
Canadian