Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Copper Fals of as-Salih Salih
A hand-struck medieval Islamic copper fals attributed to as-Salih Salih, covered on both faces in Arabic calligraphy with no portrait or figural imagery.
Islamic (Medieval)
Gothic Florin
A silver two-shilling florin of Queen Victoria in the medieval-revival Gothic style, with an ornate crowned cruciform shield reverse dated 1869.
Milled
Thebes Stater
Silver stater of Thebes with the Boeotian shield and a bearded head of Dionysos, struck as federal coinage of the Boeotian League, c. 395-338 BC.
Ancient
Double Louis d'Or
A large gold coin of Louis XIV dated 1701: the king's laureate profile and 'LUDOVICUS MAGNUS' obverse, an ornate cross of arms reverse.
Royal
Libya 1 Dinar (Counterfeit)
A brass coin imitating Libyan 1 Dinar coinage, carrying Arabic legends and geometric ornament but identified as a counterfeit or non-official replica.
World
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
Ludwigs-Eisenbahn Nürnberg-Fürth 150 Pfennig
A 1921 German emergency-money 150 Pfennig piece from Nürnberg-Fürth, struck in zinc-iron and showing an ornamental Kunstbrunnen fountain monument.
Token/notgeld
Bhutan 500 Ngultrum Commemorative
Modern Bhutanese silver commemorative dated 2008, with a portrait of King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and an ornate dragon-and-mythical-creature reverse.
Himalayan
Barakah Copper Fals
A medieval Islamic copper fals carrying purely Arabic calligraphy, including the pious word barakah (“blessing”), with no portrait or figural image.
Islamic (Medieval)
Imitation Guinea Gaming Piece
A brass or bronze token imitating a George III spade guinea, made for card games and gaming tables rather than as legal-tender money.
British Isles
Guinea Counter (Imitation)
A brass or bronze gaming counter made to imitate a George III guinea, showing a faint male profile and a shield reverse; a token, not money.
Token
Quincunx of Luceria
A cast bronze quincunx of Luceria in Apulia (3rd century BC), showing a female head and a five-point floral or star device marking five unciae.
Ancient
Tealby Penny
Silver penny of Henry II, the Tealby or Cross-and-Crosslets type, with a crowned royal bust and a voided cross bearing small crosslets in its angles.
Medieval Coins
Gotha 3 Kreuzer
A small silver 3 Kreuzer of the German state of Gotha, dated 1830, with an ornate armorial obverse and a laurel-wreath value reverse.
German States
Denier of Charles the Bald
A small hammered silver denier of the Carolingian king Charles the Bald (r. 840–877), pairing a cross or monogram design with a ruler's profile.
Medieval
Siliqua of Jovian
Small late-Roman silver siliqua of Emperor Jovian (AD 363–364), with his right-facing portrait and a Victory or standing deity reverse.
Ancient
Siliqua of Gratian
A small late Roman silver siliqua of the emperor Gratian (AD 367-383), with his diademed bust on the obverse and a standing figure or personification on the reverse.
Ancient
Hoxne Hoard Siliqua
A small late-Roman silver siliqua of the type found in Britain's Hoxne Hoard, with an imperial portrait and a standing figure or personified virtue.
Ancient
10 Para
Small Ottoman silver 10 Para dated AH 1280 (1863-1864), with the sultan's calligraphic tughra on one side and an ornamental Arabic-script inscription on the other.
Early Modern
Bremen 12 Grote Thaler
A silver 12 Grote coin of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen dated 1845, with an ornamental civic coat of arms and an allegorical reverse.
German States
8 Escudos (Carolus)
The largest Spanish gold coin of the age, the 8 Escudos or doubloon, struck under the Habsburg Carolus rulers with the crowned quartered royal arms.
Early Modern
Bhutan 10 Sengtrum
A 1979 cupro-nickel minor coin of the Kingdom of Bhutan, worth one-tenth of a ngultrum, with the national arms on one face and an ornamental gateway on the other.
Himalayan
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
Akçe
The akçe was the tiny silver coin at the heart of the early Ottoman economy, struck with Arabic-script inscriptions and no portrait or figural imagery.
Medieval