Coin Encyclopedia
Search and identify coins from around the world — with country, denomination, metal, mint, history, and how to tell them apart.
German 3 Mark Silver
A large silver coin of Imperial Germany, issued by the various constituent states with distinct rulers' portraits and commemorative designs.
European
Virginia Halfpenny
An official royal copper coinage struck in London specifically for the Colony of Virginia, showing King George III, whose distribution was disrupted by the approaching American Revolution.
United States
Five Guinea
The largest regularly issued gold denomination of the guinea coinage system, worth five guineas, struck from the reign of Charles II through George II for major transactions and presentation purposes.
British
Ottoman Para
A small fractional Ottoman coin, historically 1/40 of a kurus, struck for centuries in varying metals as the empire's lowest everyday denomination.
World
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
Spanish Colonial Cob 8 Reales (Macuquina)
A crudely hand-struck Spanish colonial silver coin, cut from irregular silver bars and stamped with a cross and shield, famed worldwide as the original 'piece of eight'.
Latin American
Chinese Silver Panda
China's annual silver bullion coin, issued since 1983 with a new panda design nearly every year, popular with both silver stackers and dedicated Panda date-set collectors.
Bullion
Korean Gwangmu Half Won (1905)
Silver half-won coin from the short-lived Korean Empire's Gwangmu currency reform, struck shortly before Korea fell under increasing Japanese control.
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
Seljuk Copper Fals
Base-metal copper coin of everyday commerce in the Seljuk Turkish world, notable for unusually rich figural imagery such as lions, suns, and double-headed eagles.
Asian
Belgian Franc
Belgium's national currency from independence in 1830 through the Latin Monetary Union era and into the Euro age, minted in both French and Dutch legends.
European
Massachusetts Oak Tree Shilling
The second design in Massachusetts Bay's colonial tree-coin series, showing an oak tree, more available than the earlier Willow Tree type but still a scarce early American colonial rarity.
United States
Aurelian Antoninianus
Radiate coin of Aurelian, the soldier-emperor who reunited the fractured Roman Empire and enacted a major coinage reform introducing standardized silver content marked with XXI or KA.
Ancient
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
2000-P Sacagawea/Washington Quarter Mule
An extraordinarily rare mint error pairing the golden Sacagawea dollar obverse with a Washington quarter reverse die, one of the most famous modern mule errors in U.S. coinage.
Errors & Varieties
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
Postumus Antoninianus
Radiate coin of Postumus, the general who broke away from Rome to found the separatist Gallic Empire covering Gaul, Britain, Germania, and Hispania during the Crisis of the Third Century.
Ancient
Maundy Money Set
A set of tiny sterling silver coins in four denominations, specially struck each year for the monarch to distribute personally to elderly recipients in the Royal Maundy ceremony on Maundy Thursday.
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
Aureus of Augustus
The gold coin of Rome's first emperor, Augustus, who standardized the aureus at roughly 1/40 of a Roman pound and set the gold standard for the empire.
Ancient
Royal Mint £5 Crown Commemorative
The modern British £5 coin descends from the historic crown and is issued almost exclusively for commemorative purposes, marking royal events, anniversaries, and national milestones.
Commemorative
Cuba 4 Pesos Gold Jose Marti
A small gold denomination from Cuba's early republican-era gold coinage, part of a 1915–1916 series (1 through 20 pesos) struck to circulate on par with US gold currency.
Latin American
Aegina Land Tortoise Stater
A silver stater from the island of Aegina bearing a land tortoise, successor to the earlier sea-turtle design and among the earliest widely circulated coinages in the Greek world.
Ancient
Perth Mint Silver Swan
A silver bullion coin from the Perth Mint featuring the black swan, an emblem of Western Australia, with a fresh design issued in most years.
Bullion