Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
Peruvian Sol de Oro
Peru's long-running national currency unit, the Sol de Oro, was issued as coinage from the 1860s through the mid-1980s in both silver and later base-metal forms.
Latin American
British India Gold Mohur (East India Company)
High-value gold coin issued by the East India Company and later the British Crown in India, used for major transactions and prized today for its gold content and classic portraiture.
Asian
Draped Bust Eagle
The formal catalog name for the first U.S. ten-dollar gold coin once it adopted a bold heraldic eagle reverse in 1797, the same coin popularly nicknamed the 'Turban Head' eagle.
United States
Gobrecht Dollar
A transitional silver dollar designed by Christian Gobrecht featuring a seated Liberty obverse and a flying eagle reverse, bridging older and newer designs in U.S. coinage.
United States
Gothic Crown
An ornate Victorian silver crown featuring a young Queen Victoria in Gothic-script lettering, widely admired as one of the most artistically accomplished coins in British history.
British
Chinese Yunnan Province Dragon Dollar
A silver dragon dollar struck by China's remote southwestern Yunnan province, notable for its distinctive coiled dragon design and unusually long production continuing well into the Republic era.
Asian
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
British Silver Britannia
The Royal Mint's one-ounce silver bullion coin, launched in 1997 as a silver companion to the Gold Britannia, featuring the same classical Britannia design.
Bullion
Portuguese Escudo
Portugal's national currency unit from the 1911 decimal reform, following the fall of the monarchy, until the Euro replaced it in the early 2000s.
European
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
Australian Holey Dollar and Dump
In 1813, colonial authorities in New South Wales punched the centers out of Spanish silver dollars to create two coins from one, easing a severe coin shortage while preventing the silver from leaving the colony.
Africa & Oceania
Isle of Man Gold Angel
A long-running gold bullion coin from the Isle of Man featuring the Archangel Michael slaying a dragon, struck by the private Pobjoy Mint since 1984.
Bullion
Twenty Pence
A seven-sided UK coin introduced in 1982 to fill a gap between the ten pence and fifty pence denominations.
British
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
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
Fifty Pence
The UK's distinctive seven-sided 50p coin, introduced in 1969 to replace the ten shilling note ahead of decimalisation.
British
Massachusetts Willow Tree Shilling
The rarest of Massachusetts Bay's tree-series colonial shillings, struck in secret defiance of English law and all frozen with the date 1652 regardless of actual striking year.
United States
Japanese Kan'ei Tsuho Cash
The workhorse cash coin of Edo-period Japan, cast continuously from 1636 for over two centuries with a square hole and simple four-character legend.
Asian
British Britannia
The United Kingdom's official gold and silver bullion coin, featuring the classical helmeted figure of Britannia, issued by the Royal Mint since 1987.
Bullion
Canadian Toonie
Canada's bimetallic two dollar coin, introduced in 1996 with a polar bear reverse, whose nickname blends "two" with "loonie."
Canadian
Classic Head Quarter Eagle
Struck from 1834 to 1839 after Congress reduced the gold weight of U.S. coins, this quarter eagle dropped the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM and features a simplified Liberty head.
United States
French Napoleon 20 Francs Gold
France's standard 19th-century gold coin, first struck under Napoleon I and continued under later rulers and the Republic, giving rise to the enduring nickname "Napoleon" for any 20-franc gold coin.
European
Pine Tree Shilling
Colonial Massachusetts silver shilling struck by John Hull and Robert Sanderson, famous for carrying the fixed date 1652 for roughly three decades of actual production.
United States
Five Pound Gold (Quintuple Sovereign)
The largest standard gold coin in the British sovereign family, worth five pounds and equal to five sovereigns, struck intermittently since 1820 for commemorative and collector purposes.
British