Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
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
Mercury Dime
U.S. silver ten-cent coin struck 1916–1945, showing a winged-cap Liberty head on the obverse and a fasces with an olive branch on the reverse.
Dime
Paquet Double Eagle
An 1861 U.S. $20 gold piece with the standard Liberty Head obverse paired with Anthony Paquet's rare tall-letter reverse variety.
Gold Type Coin
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
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
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
Liberia One Cent
An early copper cent tied to Liberia's founding, dated 1847, with a profile portrait obverse and warm brown patina.
World
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
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
8 Reales (Portrait/Bust Type)
Large silver Spanish Empire dollar showing the bust of King Carlos III and a crowned coat of arms with lions and castles.
World Coins
Spanish Colonial 8 Reales (Milled Bust)
The milled-bust Spanish colonial 8 reales—the classic “piece of eight,” a large silver coin bearing the Spanish king's portrait and royal arms.
Colonial
Parthian Drachm
Silver drachm of the Parthian (Arsacid) Empire, pairing a bearded royal profile with a seated archer holding a bow, struck in the era of Mithradates II.
Ancient
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
Barber Quarter
U.S. twenty-five-cent silver coin struck 1892–1916, with a left-facing Liberty head and a heraldic shield-eagle reverse.
Quarter
French Indochina Piastre
A 1928 silver piastre of French Indochina, its obverse showing seated Liberty with torch and laurel, its reverse reading UNION INDOCHINE FRANÇAISE in a floral wreath.
Southeast Asia
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
Swiss 2 Francs
A silver Swiss 2 Francs dated 1860, with the value and date in a wreath on one side and a seated Helvetia bearing the Swiss cross on the other.
Circulation
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
Capped Bust Quarter
An early U.S. silver quarter dollar showing Liberty in a cloth cap over a shield-breasted eagle, struck at Philadelphia from 1815 to 1838.
Quarter
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
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