Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Peru 8 Reales (Lima Mint)
The flagship silver dollar-size coin of colonial and early republican Peru, struck at the historic Lima mint from cob and pillar types through crowned-shield busts.
Latin American
George V Fifty Cents
Canada's fifty-cent silver coin issued under King George V, spanning a reduction in silver fineness in 1920 and including the famously rare 1921 date.
Canadian
Coat of Arms Fifty Cents (Elizabeth II)
Canada's modern fifty-cent piece, showing the Canadian coat of arms on the reverse since 1959 under successive obverse portraits of Queen Elizabeth II and, later, King Charles III.
Canadian
1921 Fifty Cents (King of Canadian Coins)
Canada's most famous rarity, the 1921 fifty-cent piece survives in only a small number of known examples after most of its mintage was melted, earning it the nickname King of Canadian Coins.
Canadian
Gold Britannia
The United Kingdom's premier gold bullion coin series, launched in 1987, featuring Britannia on the reverse and available in one-ounce and fractional weights.
Bullion
Gold Sovereign
Iconic British gold pound coin, revived in 1817 with Benedict Pistrucci's celebrated St George and the Dragon design, struck for centuries in London and branch mints worldwide.
British
Gold Noble
England's first successful gold coin for general circulation, introduced in 1344 under Edward III, famous for its ship reverse commemorating English naval power.
British
Egyptian Pound (gold)
Egypt's principal gold coin, struck from the Khedivate through the Sultanate and early Kingdom era, carrying the ruler's portrait or tughra and Arabic legends.
Africa & Oceania
Somali Elephant Gold
The gold version of Somalia's popular African Wildlife elephant coin series, produced by the Bavarian State Mint with a design refreshed nearly every year.
Bullion
Australian Gold Kangaroo
Australia's flagship gold bullion coin, first struck as the Gold Nugget before adopting a yearly-changing kangaroo design in 1989.
Bullion
Mexican Gold Libertad
Mexico's premier gold bullion coin, featuring the iconic Angel of Independence, produced without a fixed monetary denomination since 1981.
Bullion
British Gold Britannia
The United Kingdom's flagship gold bullion coin, issued by the Royal Mint since 1987, featuring the classical figure of Britannia and enjoying capital gains tax exemption for UK residents as legal tender.
Bullion
Byzantine Gold Tremissis
A small gold fractional coin worth one-third of a solidus, widely struck across the early Byzantine world and imitated by Germanic successor kingdoms in the former Western Roman Empire.
Ancient
Celtic Gold Stater
Iron Age gold coins struck by Celtic tribes across Gaul and Britain, evolving from close imitations of Macedonian staters into strikingly abstract, stylized designs.
Ancient
Vijayanagara Gold Pagoda
A small, thick gold coin of the South Indian Vijayanagara Empire, typically showing Hindu deities or a bull, whose type became so trusted it was widely imitated as the standard South Indian trade "pagoda."
Asian
Mamluk Gold Dinar
A gold dinar of the Mamluk Sultanate, which ruled Egypt and Syria for over two and a half centuries, continuing the Islamic epigraphic gold coinage tradition until the Ottoman conquest.
World
Chervonets (Soviet Gold)
A Soviet gold coin depicting a peasant sower, originally struck in 1923 to stabilize the new Soviet currency and later restruck for decades as a bullion and trade coin.
European
Persian Gold Daric
The standard gold coin of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, depicting the Persian Great King as a running or kneeling archer, used widely to pay soldiers and mercenaries.
Ancient
Gold Panda (China)
China's flagship gold bullion coin, issued since 1982 with a different panda design nearly every year, making the series a favorite among both bullion buyers and date-and-design collectors.
Bullion
Venetian Gold Ducat
First struck in 1284, the Venetian gold ducat became medieval Europe's most trusted trade coin, prized for centuries for its unwavering weight and purity.
European
American Gold Buffalo
The first 24-karat gold coin struck by the U.S. Mint, adapting James Earle Fraser's classic Buffalo Nickel design for a modern bullion product.
Bullion
Chinese Gold Panda
China's flagship gold bullion and collector coin series, issued annually since 1982 with a new panda design each year, making it a favorite among both bullion buyers and design collectors.
Bullion
Kushan Gold Dinar
Gold coin of the Kushan Empire modeled on the Roman aureus standard, notable for depicting a rich blend of Greek, Iranian, Indian, and Buddhist deities on its reverse.
Ancient
Gold Half Sovereign
Smaller companion to the gold sovereign, struck since 1817 at half the weight and value, sharing the same monarch portraits and often the same St George reverse design.
British