Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
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
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
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
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
Poltina (½ Rouble)
Silver half-rouble of Imperial Russia dated 1857, marked ПОЛТИНА on one side and bearing the crowned double-headed eagle of the Romanov empire.
Modern
4 Escudos
Spanish Bourbon gold 4 Escudos of the 1780s, with an armored royal bust facing right and a crowned coat of arms on the reverse.
Early Modern
Seated Liberty Quarter
U.S. twenty-five-cent silver coin struck 1838–1891, showing Liberty seated with shield and staff on the obverse and a shield-breasted eagle on the reverse.
Quarter
Charles II Halfpenny
A milled copper halfpenny of Charles II showing his laureate bust and a seated Britannia, part of the first regal copper coinage of England, dated 1675.
Milled
Indian Head Eagle
U.S. $10 gold eagle struck 1907–1933, designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, with a feathered-headdress Liberty and a standing eagle reverse.
Eagle
Draped Bust Quarter
The first United States quarter dollar, struck in silver with a draped Liberty and border stars on the obverse and an eagle reverse; the type began in 1796.
Quarter
New Zealand Halfpenny
New Zealand's small bronze halfpenny, struck from 1940, with a royal portrait obverse and a Maori hei-tiki reverse. The coin shown is a 1940 George VI issue.
New Zealand
Irish Halfpenny of Charles II
A milled copper halfpenny struck for Ireland under Charles II, with his right-facing laureate bust and a crowned Irish harp on the reverse.
Milled
Australian Kookaburra
Perth Mint silver bullion coin with a changing kookaburra reverse and a Queen Elizabeth II obverse; this 2 Dollars piece is a 2 oz .999 fine silver coin dated 2012.
Bullion
Hamburg 32 Schilling
A 1800 silver 32 Schilling of the Free City of Hamburg, with the city coat of arms and a 'HAMBURGER COURANT' reverse.
German States
Roman Quinarius
A small Roman silver quinarius, half the value of a denarius, here with a helmeted head of Roma and a prancing horse on the reverse.
Ancient
Trinidad and Tobago 25 Cents
A copper-nickel 25-cent coin of Trinidad and Tobago: a leafy national-flower plant design on one face and the value TWENTY FIVE CENTS on the other.
Circulation
Turban Head Eagle
The first U.S. ten-dollar gold coin, struck 1795–1804, with a right-facing Liberty in a soft cap and an eagle reverse.
Eagle
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
Liberty Head Eagle
A United States $10 gold coin struck 1838-1907, with Christian Gobrecht's coronet-crowned Liberty head and a shielded eagle. The example shown is dated 1839.
Eagle